NORTHERN IRELAND

Northern Ireland Assembly

John McFall: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress is being made in re-establishing the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Paul Murphy: I would refer my hon. Friend to the response I gave earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Anniesland (John Robertson).

Landfill Site

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when a decision will be announced in respect of the application for planning permission submitted by Loughside Quarries for a landfill site at Ballyrickand Larne, County Antrim; and what potential has been identified for future extension at the site.

Angela Smith: A planning application and Environmental Statement were received in January 2001. Following consultation, further information was required and an addendum to the Environmental Statement was received in December 2002.
	Consultation on this will end on 10 February. Following consideration of comments, Planning Service will be in a position to proceed to a decision.
	Any future development will be considered if a planning application is submitted.

Devolution

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions he has had concerning the restoration of devolution in Northern Ireland.

Paul Murphy: I would refer the hon. Member to the response I gave earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Anniesland (John Robertson).

Good Friday Agreement

Lawrie Quinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the Good Friday Agreement.

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on recent progress towards implementing the Good Friday Agreement.

Paul Murphy: I would refer my hon. Friend to the response I gave earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Anniesland (John Robertson).

Good Friday Agreement

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Belfast Agreement.

Paul Murphy: Intensive discussions are in progress aimed at restoring the full operation of the devolved institutions and at the continuing implementation of the Agreement. They involve the political parties in Northern Ireland and both governments, including the Prime Minister and Taoiseach, who will visit Northern Ireland on 12 February. It is essential we restore the institutions on a stable basis, founded on the use of exclusively peaceful means.

Peace Process

Nick Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the peace process.

Paul Murphy: I would refer my hon. Friend to the response I gave earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Anniesland (John Robertson).

Drug Education

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps is the Government taking to improve drug education among young people in Northern Ireland.

Des Browne: Under the Drug and Alcohol Campaign, various resources have been specifically allocated to educating young people against the dangers of drug use. Information and awareness raising is provided through many forums such as counselling services, treatment services, public information campaigns, projects providing life skills training and by other Departments and agencies, including the Health Promotion Agency. The Department of Education also include drug education as part of the present school curriculum, in line with the aims of the Drug Strategy, which is compulsory for all pupils aged 4–16. The Education and Library Boards have each employed two full-time Field Officers, from the start of the 2000–01 school year, to address the development of drug education programmes within schools and youth clubs and provide training for teachers, youth leaders, parents and governors.

Electricity Generation

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what he estimates the change in costs to Northern Ireland electricity customers would be if renewable generation were used.

Ian Pearson: Much would depend on the volume, nature and location of the renewable generation used; and on whether or not it was grid connected. Generally speaking the grid connection, operational and other costs associated with assimilating renewables on to the system increases the cost to consumers. However, regulation initiatives can mitigate some of these costs to some consumers.

Employers' Liability Insurance

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the recent increases in employers' liability insurance in Northern Ireland; what action is being taken to address this situation; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The current difficulties in the insurance market have a particularly adverse impact on a predominantly small and medium enterprise-based economy such as that in Northern Ireland. Three initiatives are under way to address various aspects of current difficulties: Government are conducting an urgent review of employers' liability to assess the scale and nature of the current difficulties; the Office of Fair Trading have launched a fact finding study to examine the reasons for premium increases and the Financial Services Authority are consulting on proposals for regulating the sale of general insurance.
	In Northern Ireland the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment has conducted a business survey on insurance costs. It indicates significant rises particularly (but not exclusively) in employers' liability and property insurance. The results of this survey will be fed into Government's current review in which my officials are participating. The outcome of the review will be reported to Ministers by the end of March 2003.

European Components

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Government grants have been received by European Components in Dundonald in the last 15 years; and how much has been allocated to the company through these grants.

Ian Pearson: The information requested, covering the last 15 years, is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, over the past five years, the former Industrial Development Board offered TK-ECC (formerly European Components Corporation) a package of selective financial assistance totalling £2 million.

Lagan Valley Hospital

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) consultants have been employed in Lagan Valley Hospital in each of the last 10 years.

Des Browne: Down Lisburn HSS Trust are only able to provide whole time equivalent figures between March 1997 and December 2002 for the number of doctors, nurses and consultants working in Lagan Valley Hospital. These figures are detailed in the following table.
	
		WTE(1) figures of doctors, nurses and consultants working in Lagan Valley Hospital between March 1997 and December 2002
		
			  Doctors Nurses Consultants 
		
		
			  
			 March 1997 23.01 254.28 25.68 
			 March 1998 19.25 245.71 23.73 
			 March 1999 19.92 242.61 24.18 
			 March 2000 19.27 243.56 23.93 
			 March 2001 25.92 255.39 22.71 
			 March 2002 22.91 244.06 23.05 
			 December 2002 26.26 267.95 27.03 
		
	
	(1) Whole time equivalent

Lagan Valley Hospital

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action the Government is taking to attract more nurses, doctors and consultants to the Lagan Valley Hospital.

Des Browne: The recruitment of staff is a matter for individual Health and Social Services Trusts taking into account factors such as service needs and available resources. Down Lisburn Health and Social Service Trust has stated that there are no medical staff vacancies at Lagan Valley Hospital. The Trust has also confirmed that they have recently recruited 25 nurses from India.

Medical Training

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures have been introduced to increase the number of training places for nurses and doctors.

Des Browne: The commissioned number of pre-registration nurse training places was increased from 580 to 680 in 2001 and from 680 to 750 in 2002.
	The annual intake of medical students was increased from 166 to 200 in 2001.

Parliamentary Questions

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the reasons were for the delay in replying to written questions tabled by the hon. Member for Thurrock on 9 January; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Murphy: The Questions referred to by my hon. Friend have now been answered.
	I am sorry for the delay in responding. This was because information from an outside, commercial, agency was needed to provide an answer.
	I would like to assure my hon. Friend that the Northern Ireland Office, as with all Government Departments, takes it obligation to answer all Parliamentary Questions promptly and accurately very seriously.

Parliamentary Questions

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the reason was for the delay in answering the questions tabled on 6 and 9 December by the hon. Member for Thurrock about the draft Harbours (Northern Ireland) Order 2002; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Murphy: The Questions referred to by my hon. Friend were answered on the 9 December 2002 (Official Report, columns 46W and 55W).
	I regret to inform my hon. Friend that due to an administrative error, the answers were re-issued on 28 January 2003.

Personality Disorders

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many places there are at specialist residential units for individuals with personality disorders in (a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland.

Des Browne: In Great Britain there are five specialist residential units providing 85 beds for people with personality disorders in the statutory sector. In Northern Ireland there are no specialist units in the statutory sector. There is one specialist residential unit in the voluntary sector which provides 11 beds.

Physiotherapy

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many physiotherapists are employed in Northern Ireland in each health trust.

Des Browne: The information requested is detailed in the table.
	
		Physiotherapists employed by each HSS Trust at 30 September 2002
		
			  Headcount WTE(2) 
		
		
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 54 46.9 
			 Green Park Healthcare HSS Trust 66 57.6 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 37 24.8 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust 74 56.3 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 79 67.9 
			 Mater Infirmorum Hospital HSS Trust 19 17.0 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 34 21.0 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 58 48.0 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 33 25.3 
			 United Hospitals Group HSS Trust 84 69.8 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 31 25.0 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 60 48.4 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 28 23.2 
			 Altnagelvin Group HSS Trust 38 35.7 
			 Foyle Community HSS Trust 2 2.0 
			 Sperrin/Lakeland HSS Trust 25 21.9 
			 Total 722 590.9 
		
	
	(2) Whole Time Equivalent

Physiotherapy

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) inpatients and (b) outpatients are on the waiting list for physiotherapy at South Tyrone Hospital, Loane House.

Des Browne: (a) Inpatients requiring treatment by a physiotherapist, perhaps following an operation, are not allocated a place on a waiting list. The physiotherapy treatment they receive forms part of their inpatient episode and is counted as hospital activity.
	(b) There are currently 174 outpatients awaiting physiotherapy treatment at South Tyrone and Loane House hospitals. The vast majority of these cases, 172 (99 per cent.), are waiting less than three months, while the remaining two are waiting less than six months. Urgent cases are prioritised and seen within 2–3 weeks.

Physiotherapy

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take steps to ensure that South Tyrone Hospital, Loane House, has its full complement of physiotherapists.

Des Browne: The South Tyrone Hospital has recently secured funding for a temporary full-time physiotherapist. Advertisements have been placed in newspapers and with recruitment agencies. There are no physiotherapy waiting lists for hospital in-patients or day attenders at Loane House. However, the out-patients' department of the Hospital currently has a waiting list of 174 for physiotherapy treatment.

Physiotherapy

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many physiotherapists are (a) employed within the Southern Health and Social Services Board area and (b) working at South Tyrone Hospital, Loane House, County Tyrone.

Des Browne: The information requested is detailed in the table.
	
		Physiotherapists employed in South Tyrone Hospital (Loane House) and the Southern Board
		
			  Headcount WTE(3) 
		
		
			 South Tyrone Hospital (Loane House)(4) n/a 1.1 
			 Southern Health and Social Services Board(5) 119 96.7 
		
	
	(3) Whole-time equivalent.
	(4) Staffing figures are current.
	(5) Staffing figures are at 30 September 2002.

Physiotherapy

Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) inpatients and (b) outpatients are on the waiting list for physiotherapy within the Southern Health Board area.

Des Browne: (a) Inpatients requiring treatment by a physiotherapist, perhaps following an operation, are not allocated a place on a waiting list. The physiotherapy treatment they receive forms part of their inpatient episode and is counted as hospital activity.
	(b) Data is collected on the number of outpatients who had a first appointment during the quarter with a community physiotherapist by the time waited. The following Figures are for the quarter ending December 2002.
	
		Completed waiting times for a first outpatient appointment with a community physiotherapist in the Southern Health Board, quarter ending December 2002
		
			  Time waited (months)  
			  0–3 3–6 6+ Total 
		
		
			 Craigavon/Banbridge Community HSS Trust 28 28 11 67 
			 Armagh/Dungannon HSS Trust 1,099 8 0 1,107 
			 Newry/Mourne HSS Trust 999 332 26 1,357 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group HSS Trust 415 245 165 825 
			 Southern Board Total 2,541 613 202 3,356 
		
	
	Source:
	CP3

Organ Donor Cards

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate how many individuals in Northern Ireland carry organ donor cards.

Des Browne: At the end of December 2002 there were 156,148 people from Northern Ireland on the organ donor register.

Public Transport

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the main uses of the sums recently announced for (a) railways and (b) buses.

Angela Smith: Additional funding in excess of £80 million was allocated to the Department for Regional Development in the December 2002 Budget announcement for the development of public transport. Of this, £40 million will be used to improve safety and reliability on the core railway network in accordance with the A. D. Little Safety Review and the "consolidation option" as outlined in the Railways Task Force Report. £40 million will be used to purchase new coaches and buses to replace vehicles, whose "economic life" has expired, and help improve the reliability and accessibility of the Ulsterbus and Citybus fleets, including assistance with the promotion of Quality Bus Corridors. A significant proportion of this funding has been made available under the Strategic Investment Programme, hence it will be subject to final approval processes in advance of expenditure being incurred.

Queen's University, Belfast

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many places are (a) retained and (b) proposed in the new academic intake, by Queen's University, Belfast for foreign nationals studying medicine.

Jane Kennedy: The recruitment of students is entirely a matter for Queen's University. The number of foreign nationals admitted to study medicine at Queen's University, Belfast in the current academic year is not yet available. The 2002–03 Higher Education Student Early Statistics return indicate that the University recruited 173 Home and EU students and 13 Island and Overseas students as new entrants to full-time undergraduate courses in medicine. Information is not available on the number of foreign nationals which the University proposes to admit to study medicine in the 2003–04 academic year.

Railways

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the level of (a) reliability and (b) punctuality of enterprise services on the Belfast-Dublin railway line.

Angela Smith: In relation to the reliability of the Enterprise Service I can report that there were four breakdowns of the locomotives servicing this line over a 30 day period in January 2003, this reflects a trend of mechanical failures in these locomotives.
	Over the same period the punctuality performance was as follows:
	
		
			 Trains arriving at their destination Ex Belfast (per cent.) Ex Dublin (per cent.) 
		
		
			 On time 22.5 41.3 
			 Within 10 minutes of their published arrival time 50.0 (6)(72.5) 38.5 (6)(79.8) 
			 Within 20 minutes of their published arrival time 15.6 (6)(88.1) 8.3 (6)(88.1) 
			 Within 30 minutes of their published arrival time 4.6 (6) (92.7) 6.9 (6)(95.0) 
		
	
	(6) The figures in brackets reflect the cumulative performance

Railways

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what efforts are being made to deal with the volume of train breakdowns on the Belfast-Dublin railway line.

Angela Smith: The performance of the Belfast-Dublin Enterprise Service continues to give cause for concern, representing as it does a serious disruption to passenger services. Northern Ireland Railways is working closely with larnrod Eireann, their partners on the Enterprise Service, to identify the technical causes of the increasing regularity of mechanical failure on the locomotives servicing this line. Engineers have closely examined the performance of the locomotives over a 2l/2 year period. On the basis of this assessment Northern Ireland Railways and larnrod Eireann have agreed to jointly approach the suppliers of the locomotives with a view to addressing this unacceptable performance.

Retail Planning (Belfast)

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the timescale is for the review of Belfast retail planning strategy; who is to conduct it; and what its terms of reference are.

Angela Smith: As part of the preparation of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan the Department of the Environment has appointed consultants to assess the potential need for additional retail floor space within the Plan Area up to 2015. The terms of reference also require the consultants to advise on where any additional floorspace should be located, and if it should be phased, how it should be phased and why it should be phased.
	The Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan covers Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Lisburn, Newtownabbey and North Down Council Areas. The Retail Study will inform the policies to be included in the Draft Plan, which is programmed to be published in September 2003. The findings of the Study will be published with the Draft Plan and all policies and proposals will be open to objection. Unresolved objections will be considered at a Public Inquiry.
	The Regional Development Strategy (RDS) acknowledges the vital role that retailing plays in the development of Northern Ireland. In particular it emphasises the need to create a thriving Metropolitan Area centred on a revitalised Belfast, through the enhancement of the role of the city, by supporting and strengthening the city centre as the leading regional shopping centre and maintaining the city centre as the primary retail and office location in the region. The RDS also advocates the development of the complementary role of the suburban districts of Castlereagh and Newtownabbey, and the development of the city of Lisburn, and the towns of Bangor and Carrickfergus and strengthening the multi-functional role of their town centres.
	In recognition of this, the Department for Regional Development is currently preparing a new planning policy statement on Retailing and Town Centres (PPS5) to replace the current retail planning policy statement, which was first published by the Department of the Environment in June 1996. The purpose of this new policy is to assist the implementation of the Regional Development Strategy. In addition, it will provide strategic planning guidance to assist the Department of the Environment in the preparation of development plans and the determination of planning applications. Roger Tym and Partners were commissioned by the Department for Regional Development to carry out evidence-based retail research to guide the Department in the preparation of the new retail planning policy statement. The final draft report of the retail consultancy is due to be issued within the next few days. The new draft planning policy statement is scheduled to be issued for full public consultation during the next few months.

TK-ECC

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who the purchasers were of land disposed of by (a) the former IDB and (b) Invest Northern Ireland at the TK-ECC factory site at Dundonald.

Ian Pearson: European Components Corporation purchased a 23-acre land holding and the 275,000 sq ft factory from IDB in July 1995. There have been no subsequent land disposals at this site by IDB or Invest NI.

PRIME MINISTER

Chemical Weapons Convention

Llew Smith: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he had with President Bush during his last visit to Washington on United States compliance with the inspection requirements of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Tony Blair: None. The US is fully compliant with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention including the requirements for inspectors.

Chequers

Nick Harvey: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the (a) official entertainment functions and (b) conferences which have been held at Chequers in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: My family and I have used Chequers in a variety of ways, both official and private, consistent with the wishes of the donor, Lord Lee, and the Chequers Estate Acts.

Chequers

Nick Harvey: To ask the Prime Minister how many days he has spent in residence at Chequers in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Colchester (Bob Russell) on 3 February 2003, Official Report, column 16W.

Iraq

Ian Lucas: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Inverness, West (Mr. Kennedy), of 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 292, if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which the veto of a Security Council Resolution would be unreasonable.

Tony Blair: As I outlined in my evidence to the Liaison Committee, we cannot have a situation in which there is a material breach recognised by everybody and yet action is unreasonably blocked.

No. 12 Downing Street (Refurbishment)

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister from which countries timber was obtained for the refurbishment of No. 12 Downing Street; and what steps he took to ensure that the timber used was derived from legal and sustainable sources.

Tony Blair: holding answer 3 December 2002
	The ground floor of No. 12 Downing Street was refurbished in 2001 in order to relocate staff from No. 10 Downing Street. The contract did not specify for the supply of timber as none was required. However during the course of the project the contractor had to replace a short length of skirting board using Medium Density Fibre Board (MDF) off cuts. Our contractors abide by the industry guidelines of "Forests Forever (A Campaign For Wood) Environmental Timber Purchasing Policy 2000 following the commitment given by DEFRA in July 2000 that timber used on the Government Estate should be derived from sustainable sources.

Race Equality and Diversity Taskforce

Mark Prisk: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  whether it will be within the scope of the new Race Equality and Diversity taskforce to recommend (a) legislation and (b) financial incentives, to encourage positive discrimination;
	(2)  what the remit will be of the Race Equality and Diversity Taskforce.

Tony Blair: Race Equality and Diversity Taskforce has been established by the Institute for Public Policy Research. The Government does not have any responsibility for the Taskforce or its terms of reference. However, the Government would of course take note of any reports or recommendations arising from the Taskforce.

CABINET OFFICE

Public Body Appointments

Frank Field: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people at or above state pension age have been appointed to public bodies in the past two years.

Douglas Alexander: There is no age limit for people applying to be considered for public appointments.
	The following figures on age are available for chairs and members appointed and re-appointed to the boards of public bodies within the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. As the figures are not broken down by gender there are no figures on how many of the appointees and re-appointees are at or above state pension age.
	
		
			 Age band Chairs Percentage of total Members Percentage of total 
		
		
			 2000–01 
			 66 plus 56 12.2 298 8.8 
			 56–65 214 46.6 1,058 31.1 
			  
			 2001–02 
			 66 plus 47 12.7 252 8.1 
			 56–65 201 54.2 1,110 35.5 
		
	
	Figures for other public appointments, which do not fall within the remit of the Commissioner, are not available.

Contingency Planning

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2002, Official Report, column 892W, on contingency planning, what alternative back-up communication medium is available in the event of failure with or unavailability of the Public Switch Telephone Network as the principal and common medium for communication between emergency services throughout the UK; and what plans the Government has to introduce a more secure medium than the current PSTN as the principal and common medium for communication between emergency services throughout the UK.

Douglas Alexander: The emergency communications network (ECN) is available to the emergency services throughout the UK as a back-up to the PSTN. The emergency services radio replacement programme will provide security based on digital standards and interoperability across the emergency service agencies.

Government Car Service

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many Ministers are entitled because of security reasons to use ministerial cars for all purposes including party purposes.

Douglas Alexander: This information is not disclosed under Exemption 1(a) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information on the grounds that its disclosure could harm national security.

Public Service Targets

Tony Wright: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what the key public service targets are against which the Delivery Unit monitors progress; and what assessments have been made by the Delivery Unit of progress against these targets;
	(2)  how the Delivery Unit selects the key public service targets that it will monitor.

Douglas Alexander: The Delivery Unit works with HM Treasury to help departments meet their Public Service Agreement targets set out in Cm 5571, copies of which are in the Libraries of the House. The Government monitors progress against these targets regularly.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Accountancy (Investigation and Discipline Board)

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions officials from her Department have had with officials from the Accountancy Foundation concerning the creation of the investigation and discipline board.

Melanie Johnson: In the course of the recent Review of the Regulatory Regime of the Accountancy Profession, officials from the Department of Trade and Industry held extensive discussions with all the key interests as well as undertaking a full public consultation. Meetings were held with officials of the Accountancy Foundation, which covered all the main aspects of the review including the role of the investigation and discipline board.

Consultancy Contracts

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what (a) terms of reference and (b) guidelines have been set for the Government's review of the relationship between companies, their accountants and the awarding of consultancy contracts.

Melanie Johnson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry set out in her statement to the House on Wednesday 29 January a range of measures to be taken by Government, business and regulators to address the concerns raised following last year's corporate and auditing scandals in the US. This includes measures to address the threats to auditor independence where an audit firm provides non-audit services to an audit client, such as consultancy services. The Auditing Practices Board will be reviewing this further as part of its newly expanded role as standard-setter on auditor independence issues.

Consumer Credit Act

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research she has commissioned into the effectiveness of the Consumer Credit Act 1974; what plans she has to amend this Act; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 30 January 2003
	In July 2001 we announced a major review of the UK's consumer credit laws. We have already published the results of our consultations on financial limits and exemptions and we have consulted on early settlement and on-line agreements. On 28 November 2002 I published the Household Survey on the Cause, Extent and Effects of Overindebtedness. This research identified a number of changes that need to be made to the Consumer Credit Act to encourage responsible lending.
	On 30 January I launched a consultation on licensing and issued my response to the 2nd Report of the Task Force on Tackling Overindebtedness.
	Decisions on where the Act might need to be amended will be informed by these consultations and announced in due course.

British Trade International

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will place the technical note underlying British Trade International's Public Service Agreement in the Library; and if she will make a statement.

Patricia Hewitt: The technical note underlying British Trade International's Public Service Agreement is being finalised and will be published on the website shortly.

Consumer Direct

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether Dudley will be included in the pilot projects for Consumer Direct.

Melanie Johnson: Local authorities will be invited later this year to prepare collaborative proposals for delivering Consumer Direct, via a regional approach. Pathfinder regions or nations will be selected on the basis of evaluation criteria that will be published at that time. A core specification for the new helpline, setting out eg minimum standards and service levels, is currently being developed.

Credit Cards

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she is taking to ensure transparency in the credit card market.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 4 February 2003
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, North and Leith (Mr. Lazarowicz) on 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 366W.

Directors' and Officers' Insurance

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to make it a statutory obligation for non-executive directors to hold directors' and officers' insurance.

Melanie Johnson: Section 30 of the Companies Act 1985 allows a company to insure its directors against actions by the company or by third parties. There is no distinction between executive and non-executive directors.
	In his "Review of the role and effectiveness of non-executive directors", published on 20 January, Derek Higgs recommends that the Combined Code should be supplemented to include a provision that companies should arrange appropriate "directors' and officers'" insurance.

Fireworks

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to encourage organised firework displays in order to curb misuse of the private use of fireworks.

Melanie Johnson: I have no plans to encourage increases in the number of organised firework displays.

Food Retail Industry

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her policy is on mergers in the food retail industry; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 3 February 2003
	Proposed mergers in the food retail industry are considered, like other proposed mergers, under the provisions of the relevant legislation, currently the Fair Trading Act 1973. As a first step, the Office of Fair Trading investigates and then advises the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether a merger raises competition concerns meriting further in-depth investigation by the Competition Commission. The Secretary of State follows the advice of the Office of Fair Trading on whether to refer a merger to the Competition Commission, save in exceptional circumstances.

Gender Pay Gap

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the gap between the average earnings of men and women is in (a) the North West and (b) Bolton.

Alan Johnson: In 2002 the gap between the average earnings of men and women in the North West was approximately 18 per cent. compared to the national average of 19 per cent. The North West experienced a narrowing of the pay difference between men and women by half a percentage point compared to 2001. Unfortunately it is not possible to obtain figures for Bolton.

Nuclear Industry

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total quantity was of plutonium permanently withdrawn from safeguards under the provisions of Article 14 of the 1978 Trilateral Safeguards Agreement between the United Kingdom, Euratom and the International Atomic Energy Agency; and which were reactors of origin of the plutonium.

Nigel Griffiths: A report provided in July 2000 (28 July 2000, Official Report, column 1094W) set out this information and noted that, other than for the return of military-origin material temporarily brought into safeguards, notifications for permanent withdrawals from safeguards involved a total of less than 10 grams of plutonium. This conclusion still holds.
	When nuclear material is subject to commercial bulk process like reprocessing, material from different origins becomes mixed in the plant and hence loses its separate identity. For each plutonium isotope, the atoms involved are also indistinguishable and thus regarded as interchangeable. This means that it is not possible to make a definitive statement about the reactors in which the plutonium concerned was produced.

Police Forces (UK Airports)

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of whether the disparity in the charging and cost regimes operated by different police forces in respect of UK airports (a) constitutes a distortion in the market and (b) conflicts with UK and EU competition policies; and if she will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, in his reply of 3 February, in response to my hon. Friend's question number 94476, Official Report, column 34W, outlined the current arrangements for charging for police services at airports, noted the recent review of the policing of airports by Sir John Wheeler and noted the work that the Home Office and the Department for Transport are doing in response to this review. Any competition implications will be given full consideration as part of the policy process.

TRANSPORT

Congestion Tax

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment the Government have made of the imposition of a congestion tax under the terms of the Transport Act 2000 upon those working in (a) the office cleaning services, (b) the hotel or catering industries, (c) the entertainment industry, (d) retail businesses, (e) health and ancillary services, (f) the teaching professions, (g) the security services, (h) the fire services and (i) the police.

David Jamieson: It is for individual local authorities or, in London, the Mayor to assess the impact of any congestion charging scheme that they propose to introduce under the powers available to them in the Transport Act 2000 or the Greater London Authority Act 1999.

Freight Facility Grants

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his oral statement of 28 January 2003, Official Report, column 712, whether the budget for freight facility grants covers (a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04.

David Jamieson: My hon. Friend said in the House on 28 January that freight facility grants and track access grants in 2003–04 will account for some £40 million of expenditure, which is additional to expenditure in 2002–03.

Fuel Cards

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fuel cards issued by him have been listed as lost or stolen since 1997.

David Jamieson: The Department for Transport does not issue fuel cards; and neither did its predecessor Departments since 1997.

Government Car Service

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many departmental civil servants were supplied with a motor vehicle as part of their employment package in each year since 1997.

David Jamieson: None.

Government Car Service

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many civil servants in his Department received a fuel card supplied with a motor vehicle as part of their salary package in each year since 1997.

David Jamieson: There are no staff in the Department supplied with a fuel card or a motor vehicle as part of their salary package. This was also true of predecessor Departments since 1997.

Government Car Service

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the make and cost of each motor vehicle supplied to (a) himself, (b) Ministers of State, (c) Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, (d) Special Advisers and (e) departmental officials as part of their employment package or terms of office in each year since 1997; and how many have been lost or stolen.

David Jamieson: No Ministers or officials in my Department are supplied with cars as part of their employment package. Ministers, including myself, and the Permanent Secretary have the use of cars for official business during their term of office. During 2002 cars supplied in this way were as follows:
	(a) Secretary of State, Rover 75, £18,796
	(b) Minister of State, Rover 75, £17,188
	(c) Under-Secretary of State, Nissan Primera, £14,239
	(d) Vehicles are not supplied to Special Advisers
	(e) The Permanent Secretary, Ford Mondeo, £11,068
	No vehicles have been lost or stolen.
	Under Machinery of Government changes the Department has only been in existence since 29 May 2002 and comparable figures for previous years cannot be given.

Government Car Service

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many insurance claims have been (a) lodged and (b) paid out by insurance companies as a result of motor vehicles supplied to (i) himself, (ii) Ministers of State, (iii) Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, (iv) Special Advisers and (v) departmental officials as part of their employment package or terms of office having been lost or stolen in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: One claim has been lodged with the Government Car and Despatch Agency as a result of the use of a motor vehicle supplied to Ministers or officials in the Department. This claim is for an incident in 2003. None of the vehicles has been lost or stolen. Under Machinery of Government changes the Department has only been in existence since 29 May 2002. Information for predecessor Departments is not available.

London Underground

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what agreements he has reached with the Mayor of London about the London Underground; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The Government and TfL have agreed to work together to secure the transfer of the underground to TfL concurrently with, or as soon as possible after, Metronet reaching financial close for the deals to modernise the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines and the sub surface lines.
	Transfer will only happen ahead of amendments being made to the Greater London Authority Act with the agreement of the PPP bidders and lenders.
	This has been made possible by the Mayor's undertaking not to pursue his appeal to the state aid decision or any further legal challenge to the PPP.

Newcastle Central Station

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the decision was taken by the British Transport Police to close the station concourse area at Newcastle Central Station after 11 pm; and what plans he has to continue this arrangement.

David Jamieson: A station's operating hours are the responsibility of the operator not the British Transport Police (BTP). The decision to close Newcastle Central Station at 11.30pm, after the last passenger service has departed, was taken in 1990–91 by the British Railways Board and was continued by Great North Eastern Railway. The station does partially re-open during the night to cater for passengers arriving and departing on overnight services. The BTP advised in 1993–94 that the taxi rank on the station concourse should move to council property after 11.30pm because the station was no longer open and the rank was attracting large crowds that had no connection with the station.

Office of the Rail Regulator

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the Office of the Rail Regulator's service delivery agreement for 2003 to 2006 will be published.

David Jamieson: Under Treasury guidelines, a Service Delivery Agreement (SDA) is no longer required for the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR). However, ORR does produce an annual business plan and an annual report: the business plan sets out the activities and targets for the coming year and how ORR expects to deliver against its objectives; the annual report is an account to Parliament on previous progress, delivery and achievement against objectives. Both meet general SDA requirements.

Rail Freight

Patsy Calton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent changes have taken place or are planned to funding arrangements for freight on the railways; and if he will make a statement on his Department's strategy for increasing rail freight on Britain's rail network.

David Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority's updated strategic plan, published on 30 January, explains their priorities including those for freight.
	The Government published a report on its targets and progress in meeting them in relation to the 10-year plan on 17 December 2002. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House.

Roads (Gloucestershire)

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the grant to Gloucestershire for roads; what the backlog of road works in Gloucestershire is; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: holding answer 28 January 2003
	For the financial year 2003–04 Gloucestershire county council will receive £8.109 million for the maintenance of roads and bridges.
	Based on the asset value of Gloucestershire county council's highways network the backlog of work represents approximately 4 per cent. of their asset value and predominately relates to non-principal roads.
	Also, in the LTP 2002 settlement the Government agreed to provide up to £22.235 million for the Gloucester SW bypass.

Strategic Rail Authority (Rural Proofing)

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if the Strategic Rail Authority is bound by the commitment in the Rural White Paper 2000, to rural proof its policies and strategies;
	(2)  what guidance he has issued to the Strategic Rail Authority on rural proofing its policies and strategies.

David Jamieson: The Strategic Rail Authority is covered by the Rural White Paper commitment.
	Paragraph 6.8 of the Secretary of State's Directions and Guidance states that the Authority should "ensure that its strategies, its investments (including in passenger franchises) and other expenditures, and its other activities have regard to their economic, social and environmental impacts". This includes, among other things, impacts on rural communities.

Street Lighting

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has to cooperate with Ofgem and the DTI to speed up the implementation of competition in street lighting connections.

David Jamieson: The implementation of competition in street lighting connections is the responsibility of the DTI and Ofgem. But my Department is in discussions with them to see what can be done to speed the process up, since competition in this area will greatly assist in tackling the backlogs in street lighting which we are committed to remove under the 10-Year Plan for Transport.

Street Lighting

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has to include an indicative amount of funding for street lighting for inclusion into the Local Transport Plan settlement for 2004–05 and future years.

David Jamieson: The 2004–05 Local Transport Plan settlement for maintenance was announced in December last year without an indicative amount for street lighting. A decision on whether indicative amounts for street lighting will be included in future settlements will be taken at the relevant time in the light of progress in tackling the overall backlogs in local highway maintenance.

Street Lighting

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to include in the Local Transport Plan highway maintenance settlement funding for street lighting renewal.

David Jamieson: Local Transport Plan funding can already be used for street lighting renewal, or for any capital purpose across the services a local authority provides.

Street Lighting

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what support his Department is giving to local authorities to develop detailed inventories and risk management systems in relation to street lighting stock.

David Jamieson: My Department is encouraging local authorities to develop detailed inventories and risk management systems for street lighting stock. Guidance is being developed within the Lighting Board, which has representatives from all UK highway authorities and the lighting industry. We are also funding relevant research and development.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Bovine TB

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many outbreaks of bovine TB there were in each county, in each month of the last year.

Elliot Morley: Statistics by county and month are not available. National statistics for the year 2002 by county will be available on the internet in late summer. Raw data for 2002 for the areas covered by Animal Health Offices are set out in the table. Raw data do not have the same degree of accuracy as national statistics.
	
		
			 Animal Health Office Total new herd TB incidents January to December 2002 Of which are considered confirmed new TB incidents 
		
		
			 England   
			 Avon 97 51 
			 Bury 2 0 
			 Carlisle Division (Cumbria) 33 5 
			 Chelmsford 5 0 
			 Cornwall 426 240 
			 Devon 508 252 
			 Dorset 105 43 
			 Gloucester 273 190 
			 Hereford and Worcester 295 188 
			 Leeds 8 5 
			 Leicestershire 33 7 
			 Lincoln Division 9 2 
			 Newcastle Division 30 11 
			 Preston Division 9 0 
			 Reading 13 0 
			 Reigate 16 8 
			 Stafford Division, Cheshire 27 13 
			 Stafford Division Derbyshire 65 37 
			 Stafford Division, Staffs 171 112 
			 Shropshire 64 38 
			 Somerset 161 75 
			 Wiltshire 136 77 
			
			 Wales   
			 Clwyd 9 4 
			 Glamorgan, Mid 3 1 
			 Glamorgan, South 2 0 
			 Glamorgan, West 14 5 
			 Gwent 97 54 
			 Gwynedd 7 1 
			 Powys, North 40 18 
			 Powys, South 84 55 
			
			 Scotland   
			 Ayr 50 12 
			 Galashiels 5 1 
			 Inverness 3 1 
			 Inverurie 18 1 
			 Perth 13 5

Bovine TB

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the number of humans infected by bovine tuberculosis from badgers in the last 10 years.

Hazel Blears: I have been asked to reply.
	The Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) collects data on the number of cases of M.Bovis. A breakdown of the number caused by cattle or badgers is not available. The number of reported cases of M.Bovis in humans since 1993 are as follows.
	
		
			 Year Total 
		
		
			 1993(7) 37 
			 1994 31 
			 1995 20 
			 1996 30 
			 1997 32 
			 1998 29 
			 1999 31 
			 2000 18 
			 2001(8) 26 
			 Total 345 
		
	
	(7) Figures not held pre 1993.
	(8) 2001 is a provisional figure.

Bovine TB

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the measures her Department is taking on badgers and associated TB disease in the Saltdean area.

Elliot Morley: The licences granted by Defra under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 for the prevention of serious damage to property in Saltdean were not related to bovine TB control measures. No action on disease control grounds is currently being taken on badgers except within the Krebs trial areas. None of these is near Saltdean.
	However given that badgers are susceptible to bovine TB it is important that any proposals to relocate badgers takes into account the risk of the spread of disease. Some five badgers positive to bovine TB were identified between 1984 and 1998 within a five kilometre radius of this sett at Saltdean. Some 55 have been found within a twenty kilometre radius.
	Since 1996 there have been intermittent incidents of bovine TB in cattle within a twenty kilometre radius of Saltdean. The figures are as follows:
	
		
			 Year of incident Within 20km radius of Saltdean In East Sussex 
		
		
			 1996 2 2 
			 1997 4 4 
			 1998 3 3 
			 1999 5 6 
			 2000 2 2 
			 2001 2 3 
			 2002 4 5 
		
	
	A discussion forum on 27 November provided the opportunity for an exchange of views on the Saltdean case. We are currently considering proposals for a way forward in the light of reports received since then.

Capita Group

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the contracts that have been awarded to the Capita Group by her Department.

Alun Michael: Contracts have been awarded to the Capita Group by the Department for recruitment services; project management work; and for training seminars and courses covering security; records management; knowledge management; Diversity and, Freedom of Information. During the FMD outbreak the Capita Group provided Clerks of Works to manage on-farm services in connection with cleansing and disinfection work.

Coffee Market

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she is taking to examine the operation of the world coffee market.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 31 January 2003
	The UK is a member, through the EU, of the International Coffee Organisation (ICO), a United Nations body established to, among other things, "achieve a reasonable balance between world supply and demand on a basis which will assure adequate supplies of coffee at fair prices to consumers and markets for coffee at remunerative prices to producers to facilitate the expansion and transparency of international trade in coffee". The ICO, therefore monitors the world coffee market on an on-going basis and provides its members with market statistics and reports.
	The UK contributes to the ICO's examination of its world coffee statistics and reports and to the development of its policies. A major plank of the Organisation's current activity is the Coffee Quality Improvement Programme, which was introduced on 1 October 2002. It requires exports of unprocessed coffee from member countries to comply with minimum standards which should have a positive effect upon supply and demand and, in turn, producer prices. Discussions are also under way within the organisation about how exports of processed coffee should be dealt with.

Committee Reports

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will place in the Library the latest Annual Report of the (a) Committee of Investigation for Great Britain, (b) Committee of Agricultural Valuation, (c) Committee on Products and Processes for Use in Public Water Supply and Swimming Pools, (d) Advisory Committee on Pesticides and (e) Consumers' Committee for Great Britain under the Agricultural Marketing Act 1958; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: The Committee of Investigation for Great Britain, the Committee on Agricultural Valuation and the Consumers Committee for Great Britain under the Agricultural Act 1958 are now effectively defunct and have therefore not produced Annual Reports for a number of years.
	Copies of the current Annual Reports of the Committee of Products and Processes for Use in. Public Water Supply and the Advisory Committee on Pesticides have now been placed in the Library. Future copies will also be placed in the Library on publication.

Dairy Incomes

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average net income of dairy farmers was in 2000–01; and what she expects the figure to be in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03.

Elliot Morley: Average net farm income:
	Net farm income is defined as the return to the principal farmer and spouse for their labour and on the tenant-type capital of the business.
	Average net farm income for full-time dairy farms in England was £10,800 in 2000–01, £22,800 in 2001–02 and is forecasted to be £17,000 in 2002–03.

Fair Trade

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what fair trade criteria she sets when deciding upon what suppliers to use.

Alun Michael: As explained by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 9 December 2002, Official Report, column 92W, the Government are committed to supporting ethical trading wherever possible within the boundaries set by the public procurement rules and provides significant support to the Fair Trade Foundation's efforts in promoting the supply and marketing of fair trade products.
	This is reflected in Defra's Green Guide for Buyers (http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/sdig/improving/partf/greenbuy/index.htm) and the work that departmental officials are undertaking with Defra's catering contractors. In consultation with them Defra has produced a catering action sheet that, among other things, calls for promotion of fair trade or ethically produced food. I shall shortly receive a report from officials about work on reviewing Defra's catering contracts and working with our caterers to make fair trade tea and coffee generally available within the Department.

Fish Stocks

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much is included in the Environment Agency's budget for the maintenance of fish stocks; and what that figure was in 1992.

Elliot Morley: In 2002–03 the Environment Agency's total forecast fisheries budget for England and Wales is £26.5 million, of which the Government (Defra and the National Assembly Government) will provide £9.8 million in grant-in-aid, to help meet the Agency's statutory duty in relation to salmon and freshwater fisheries.
	In 1992 the total fisheries budget of the National Rivers Authority (the Environment Agency's predecessor) for England and Wales was £23.6 million of which the Government provided £13 million in grant-in-aid.

Flooding

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes flooded (a) in January 2003, (b) in winter 2000 and (c) in the previous two major floods in (i) the lower Thames Valley downstream of the Jubilee River, (ii) Surrey and (iii) Spelthorne.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 31 January 2003
	The number of properties flooded in 2003 is provisional as information is still being gathered. The information for 2000 and 2003 is based on properties known to have flooded internally. The figures for 1968 and 1947 are taken from the historic flood outlines. It is not known how many of the properties affected flooded internally.
	All information is the best available to the Environment Agency.
	
		
			 Number of properties confirmed River Thames from Windsor to Teddington (downstream of Jubilee River) Surrey (includes Thames,Bournes and Wey) Spelthorne, Borough, (Thames, Colne) 
		
		
			 2003—January c. 123 c. 231 c. 60 
			 2000—October/November/December c. 47 c. 333, (also includes River Mole) c. 40 
			 1968 Not available c. 4,724 Not available 
			 1947 c. 6,956 c. 7,015 c. 2,114

Flooding

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the key flood defence systems in the Thames Valley that are not in good condition or better.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 3 February 2003
	The River Thames is the primary drainage channel conveying river flows through the Thames Valley. Along the stretch of river between Reading and Teddington (the effective tidal limit) the Environment Agency report that there are no riverside flood defence structures that are in worse than good condition. The weirs that primarily control water levels for navigation also have an important function in flood level control, however the condition of the weirs did not contribute to the flooding in the Thames Valley in the New Year period. The Agency advise that eight of these weirs are in worse than good condition and their reconstruction is either in progress or planned in the medium term. These weirs, with provisional reconstruction dates, are listed in the table.
	
		
			 Weirs Provisional reconstruction dates 
		
		
			 Marsh Weir (near Henley) under construction 
			 Sunbury A Weir 2003–05 
			 Shepperton B Weir 2004–07 
			 Romney Weir (near Windsor) 2006–08 
			 Bell Weir (near Runnymede) 2007–10 
			 Molesey B Weir 2007–08 
			 Molesey D Weir 2008–10 
			 Teddington Weir 2009–11

Focus Groups

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what use she has made of focus group research since June 2001; and if she will identify for each research project the (a) topics covered and (b) total cost.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 23 January 2003
	The Department has made use of focus group research as follows:
	
		
			 Project Cost (£) 
		
		
			 Consultation requirements on the release of genetically modified organisms (9)23,000 
			 Views on the management of radioactive waste (9)56,000 
			 The 2004 Periodic review: Research into Customers Views(10) 25,000 
			 Pilot and customer research on the content and presentation of information which might be made available by water and sewerage undertakers (9)13,800 
			 The appraisal of the intangible human health related impacts of flooding (11) (9)285,000 
			 Improving the public awareness and understanding of flood risk(11) (9)80,000 
			 Water-based Sport and recreation—the facts(12) (9)139,000 
			 Contribution to the ongoing Woodland Creation Review in England 3,535 
		
	
	(9) Costs relate to total project of which focus groups formed an undifferentiated part.
	(10) Used to inform the Initial Guidance from the Secretary of State to the Director General of Water services. 2004 periodic review of water price limits which was published on 21 January 2003.
	(11) Research being undertaken by a consortium.
	(12) Undertaken by Brighton University—published December 2001.

GM Crops

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to halt the approval process for GM rape and maize before the European Commission set out in the European Union Directive of 17 October 2002.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 4 February 2003
	The Government are not taking any measures to halt the decision making process for these applications to import and market GM grain in the European Union. We believe decisions on these applications should be taken based on scientific evidence and existing legal obligations laid down in Directive 2001/18 on the release of GMOs to the environment.

Logica

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contracts have been awarded by her Department to Logica since 1 August 2002, providing in each case the (a) title, (b) total cost, (c) time scale and (d) terms of reference on the contract; what the reasons were for awarding each contract; and if she will place copies of the contracts in the Library.

Alun Michael: From information held centrally, since 1 August 2002 the Department has not awarded any contracts to Logica.

Nobel House

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to refurbish Nobel House; and when the refurbishment is due to take place.

Alun Michael: The Department is investigating options for the refurbishment of Nobel House but decisions have yet to be taken.

Seals

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what plans she has to improve reporting and monitoring practices in respect of seals;
	(2)  how many seals have been killed (a) deliberately and (b) accidentally by humans in each year since 1972; and of those killed deliberately, how many were despatched pursuant to section 9 of the Conservation of Seals Act 1970;
	(3)  if she will make a statement on the discharge of her responsibilities in relation to seals under (a) the EU Habitats Directive, (b) Article 8 of the Berne Convention and (c) the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981;
	(4)  what steps she is taking to encourage (a) fishermen and (b) fish farmers to adopt the use of non-lethal means of seal deterrence;
	(5)  what plans she has to review section 9 of the Conservation of Seals Act 1970

Elliot Morley: pursuant to his answer, 26 November 2002, Official Report, c. 240W
	Paragraph five of my answer was incomplete and should read as follows:
	"Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is an offence to use a self-locking snare to trap any wild mammal, including seals."
	The rest of the answer remains correct.

Sugar Beet

Gillian Shephard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has for alternative industrial uses of sugar beet; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 31 January 2003
	Sugar beet has potential for the production of bioethanol and the Government announced in the pre-Budget report that it intends to introduce a 20p per litre reduction in duty on bioethanol compared to ultra low sulphur petrol. Industry and other stakeholders are being consulted about when this incentive should be introduced. Production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic materials is likely to offer additional environmental advantage and the Government will consider best how to give it further support. There is potential to exploit other molecules from sugar beet, some of which have high value, and this is already known to the industry. The Government-Industry Forum on Non-Food Uses of Crops was set up in 2001 to review market opportunities for non-food crops and make recommendations to Government on policy affecting their use. The Forum has looked at several non-food crop applications, including bioethanol.

Veterinary Inspectors

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures the Department can take to remove veterinary inspectors who misuse their powers.

Elliot Morley: Veterinary Inspectors are appointed by the Secretary of State under the Animal Health Act 1981.
	There are three main categories of veterinarians who are appointed to carry out inspection duties under the Act:
	State Veterinary Service (SVS) veterinary staff
	Local Veterinary Inspectors (LVIs)
	Temporary Veterinary Inspectors (TVIs)
	Any breach or misuse of powers under the Act is taken very seriously by the Department. Additionally, the veterinary profession is governed by The Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 which provides disciplinary powers under the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons professional code of conduct.
	The Divisional Veterinary Manager (DVM) is responsible for work carried out in his/her Division. In instances where LVIs or TVIs infringe or fail to comply with their terms and conditions of appointment, perform duties unsatisfactorily or are guilty of conduct which makes suspension or termination of the appointment desirable they may be suspended and ultimately terminated.
	SVS Veterinary Officers are serving civil servants. They are bound by the terms and conditions set out in the Defra Staff Handbook. In addition they are bound by the terms of the Official Secrets Act. Breach of the forgoing may result in termination of appointment and in certain circumstances criminal or civil proceedings.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces (Deployments)

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British troops are deployed in Afghanistan; in which regions they are deployed; and what tasks are assigned to them.

Adam Ingram: There are some 300 British troops deployed in Afghanistan, mostly with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The ISAF is tasked with maintaining security in support of the Transitional Islamic Authority of Afghanistan, led by President Karzai. Its deployment is limited to Kabul and its immediate environs by UN Security Council Resolution 1444.

Aircraft Serviceability Rates

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what targets have been set for DARA regarding aircraft serviceability rates; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 4 February 2003
	The term serviceability has a strict meaning in military aviation and serviceability targets apply only at unit level. Therefore, the Ministry of Defence does not set targets for the Defence Aviation Repair Agency expressed in terms of serviceability. However, as my answer on 23 July 2002, Official Report, columns 911–12W, to the hon. Member for Lincoln (Ms Merron) pointed out, the agency works to a range of key targets that are designed to help improve quality, efficiency, and overall performance levels.

Airwave

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects Airwave to enter service.

Adam Ingram: Airwave is a Home Office PFI contract with mmO2 managed by the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO). The Ministry of Defence is buying into the service as a Department of Trade and Industry approved public safety user.
	The Airwave service is being rolled out across the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2005 to a programme agreed between PITO, mm02, and the Home Office police constabularies. Airwave has already entered service in some of these constabulary areas.
	Access to the Airwave service is available now to Ministry of Defence users, through a Defence Communications Services Agency enabling contract. The service is being taken up in accordance with individual project plans, and in line with the service rollout time scales.
	Updates to the Airwave service rollout plan can be obtained from PITO.

Armed Forces (Gulf)

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what memoranda of understanding have been reached with the United States regarding the command and control of British troops in the Gulf region; what provisions exist for the maintenance of UK national control over operations in the event of hostilities; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 31 January 2003
	Should it become necessary to commit British forces to military action against Iraq the Government will ensure that command and control arrangements providing appropriate levels of national direction of British forces are put in place.

Armoured Vehicles

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the investigations into improving the counter-surveillance capability of the Challenger 2 to be completed.

Adam Ingram: We continually investigate ways of further improving the counter-surveillance capability of our in-service equipment; Challenger 2 is no different in this respect.

Armoured Vehicles

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the modifications to the Challenger 2 main battle tank will be completed.

Adam Ingram: Modifications to armoured vehicles continue throughout their in-service life, either because of faults that are identified, or new technologies provide improved capability that can be inserted through incremental acquisition. Challenger 2 is no different in this respect. In the case of specific modifications to improve the performance of Challenger 2 in desert conditions, the Ministry of Defence continues to expect measures to be completed in time for possible future operations.

Carrier Programme

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the prime contractor for the carrier programme.

Adam Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made in the House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on Thursday 30 January 2003 Official Report, columns 1026–41.

Future Aircraft Carrier

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what policy his Department has on the use of British manufactured goods on the future aircraft carrier.

Adam Ingram: It remains Government policy that the fabrication and assembly of new warship hulls for the Royal Navy should be undertaken in United Kingdom shipyards, and this, of course, applies to the construction of the future aircraft carriers. However, the policy does not apply to all of the vessels' sub-systems.
	As the Defence Industrial Policy Paper published last October, made clear, competition remains the bedrock of our procurement policy, although the benefit to the UK economy from MOD contracts is taken into account when assessing bids. In order to provide the Armed Forces with the equipment they require at the best value for money for the taxpayer, prime contractors are expected to use competition extensively to select sub-contractors. British industry is well-placed to compete for the equipment and sub-systems that will be required for the future aircraft carrier.
	A copy of the Government's Defence Industrial Policy has been placed in the Library of the House.

Fylingdales

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions (a) he and (b) officials from his Department have had with (i) France, (ii) Germany, (iii) Italy and (iv) Spain regarding the US request to use Fylingdales; and what the outcome was of such discussions.

Geoff Hoon: I have had no discussions with my counterparts from France, Germany, Italy and Spain about the US request to upgrade RAF Flyingdales. Ministry of Defence officials speak regularly with their counterparts in these countries and keep them informed on United Kingdom defence matters, including those relating to missile defence, as appropriate.

Harrier

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Harrier programme.

Adam Ingram: The Harrier GR7 fleet will undergo two upgrade programmes over the next few years. First, 30 aircraft will be upgraded to GR7A standard by the integration of the Rolls-Royce Pegasus Mkl07 engine. This will provide improved performance, particularly for carrier borne operation. This programme is due to be completed by the end of 2005 at a total cost of approximately £150 million.
	Secondly, all Harrier GR7 and GR7A aircraft will receive avionics and weapons upgrades to provide the aircraft with a much improved capability, in particular the ability to deliver the new generation of smart weapons that are about to enter service. These aircraft will be designated Harrier GR9 and GR9A. In addition all T10 training aircraft will be similarly upgraded to T12 standard.
	The Harrier GR7 and T10 upgrade programme will be carried out by BAE Systems as Prime Contractor. The initial contract awarded late last year is valued at approximately £150 million. Further contracts with BAE Systems as prime contractor are planned for late this year.

Harrier

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many jobs he estimates will be (a) created and (b) maintained as a consequence of the announcement on the Harrier order.

Adam Ingram: It is not anticipated that there will be any changes in Ministry of Defence personnel numbers as a result of the recent award of a contract to BAE Systems for the upgrade of the Harrier GR7 and T10 fleet.
	Any changes in staff numbers at BAE Systems are a matter for the company.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 27 January 2003, Official Report, column 551, if he will set out the links between the Iraqi regime and terrorist organisations.

Geoff Hoon: Iraq has a long record of support for terrorism: this includes support for Palestinian terrorist groups (e.g. Abu Nidhal), payments to the families of suicide bombers and the activities of the MeK against Iran. As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said on 29 January 2003, Official Report, column 871, we also know of links between al-Qaeda and Iraq, although we cannot be sure of their exact extent.

Iraq

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures will be put in place to ensure that, in the event of a war with Iraq, British men and women serving in that theatre have adequate opportunity to telephone their families at reasonable cost; what discounted rates his Department has negotiated with mobile phone operators for Service personnel on active duty; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence recognises the importance of regular communication between deployed Service personnel and their families. Consequently, although no decision has been taken to commit HM forces to military action in the Gulf, it is our intention to implement the Operational Welfare Package (OWP) for those personnel deployed to the Gulf region, where the infrastructure and environment allow.
	The OWP includes a comprehensive communications element to enable deployed Service personnel to remain in contact with their families. This will entitle personnel to 20 minutes of publicly-funded telephone calls per week, and they will also be able to purchase additional telephone minutes. The cost of additional minutes will vary between locations, reflecting the varying types of communications system that will be installed. However, in most cases, the rate will be lower than that charged by commercial mobile telephone companies.
	The OWP will also allow Service personnel to send and receive emails, to access the internet and to send and receive free forces aerogrammes (blueys) and electronic blueys. Finally, deployed personnel and their families will be entitled to concessionary mail and parcel charges, which will allow them to send and receive letters and parcels at subsidised rates.

Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with the US Administration about planned changes to the Iraqi military in the event of regime change in Iraq.

Geoff Hoon: I have had no discussions with the US Administration about any specific changes to the Iraqi military.

Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to increase the number of strike missions by the RAF in the Iraqi no-fly zone.

Adam Ingram: None. Coalition aircraft only respond in self-defence to threats from the Iraqi air defence system.

Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in how many strike missions the RAF was involved in the Iraqi no fly zones in each of the last 12 months.

Adam Ingram: We record only those occasions when RAF aircraft release ordnance responding in self-defence to threats from Iraqi air defences. We do not
	record events in which RAF aircraft are airborne as part of a no fly zone patrol, and when the response is made by other coalition aircraft.
	In the 12 months prior to January the totals were:
	
		
			 Month—2002 Total 
		
		
			 January 0 
			 February 0 
			 March 0 
			 April 0 
			 May 2 
			 June 2 
			 July 1 
			 August 2 
			 September 6 
			 October 4 
			 November 4 
			 December 6

Maritime Assets

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the ability of Sea Harriers to function in an air defence role in Gulf conditions before deciding not to include them in the task force;
	(2)  for what reason HMS Ark Royal is not carrying (a) Harrier GR7s and (b) Harrier FA2s ;
	(3)  if he will make a statement on the defence of Royal Navy vessels against air attack during a possible conflict with Iraq.

Adam Ingram: Maritime assets are extremely flexible. The decision to deploy HMS Ark Royal in the Landing Platform Helicopter role reflected contingency planning. However, she is capable of operating both naval FA2 Sea Harriers and RAF GR7s and could reconfigure while on deployment. The naval task group includes an escort force matched to the size of the task group. That escort force is able to provide air, surface and underwater protection. Merlin and Sea Kings with their early warning systems are also available. In addition, in the Gulf, force protection is provided jointly across coalition forces. Royal Navy ships have the necessary equipment to ensure that they are able to achieve a high degree of integration with coalition assets. Force protection is an issue that is well practised and understood. The threat to any United Kingdom asset is kept under review.

Missile Defence

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures will be put in place to protect UK interests when the Government give formal consent for the US Government to use RAF Fylingdales in the US Missile Defence System; and what memoranda of understanding and agreements are being drawn up for the formal use of RAF Fylingdales in the US AMD system.

Geoff Hoon: We will be negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States covering arrangements for the upgrade and for the future operation of the missile defence applications of the radar.
	RAF Fylingdales will continue to be staffed, operated and controlled by the Royal Air Force. Existing data-sharing arrangements would continue, applying also to new missile defence data. The new arrangements will also maintain the existing principle of joint decision-making relating to the use of United States strategic assets based in the United Kingdom.

MOD Installations (Security)

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how often security is reviewed at Ministry of Defence installations.

Adam Ingram: Security in the Ministry of Defence is a function of command in the case of the military, and of mainstream line management, in the case of civilian staff. It is the business of Commanders and civilian managers at every level. Commanding officers/head of establishments are responsible for keeping protective security in their area of responsibility under constant review, taking into account the changing threat environment and the risks to their operational or business outputs. There is, in addition, a requirement for all establishments to be subject to formal external inspection by security staff; the minimum frequency of such inspections is determined by a system of categorisation which takes into account the threat from terrorism and espionage, and the sensitivity of the establishment concerned.
	The details of the system of establishment categorisation, and the associated inspection regime, are classified and withheld in accordance with Exemption 1 of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Ocean Class Commando Carrier

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he plans to build a second Ocean class commando carrier.

Adam Ingram: At present there are no plans to build a second Ocean class ship. HMS Ocean is due to leave service in 2018. We are beginning to investigate how to replace the capability she provides as well as that of the CVS carriers (when tasked in a landing platform helicopter role). No decisions have yet been taken on what form this replacement capability will take.

SA80

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) troops and (b) front line troops being sent to the Gulf are equipped with SA80 Mark 1 unmodified assault rifles.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 January 2003, Official Report, column 958W, to the hon. Member for Aldershot (Mr. Howarth).

Support Vehicle Programme

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the progress of the Ministry of Defence's Support Vehicle Programme.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 January 2003, Official Report, column 646W to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock).

Theatre Missile Defence

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what submissions his Department has made to NATO as part of its feasibility study on theatre missile defence; and if he will place them in the Library.

Geoff Hoon: The Ministry of Defence has been fully engaged in the NATO Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence Feasibility Studies that are about to be completed. We have contributed information gained from our Technology Readiness and Risk Assessment Programme (TRRAP), an unclassified summary of which was placed in the House of Commons Library in February 2002.

Type 45 Destroyers

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the air defence Type 45 Destroyer will have the ability to hit targets on land.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 4 February 2003
	The Type 45 Anti-Air Warfare Destroyer, fitted with the 4.5 inch Mk8 Mod 1 gun, will provide the same Naval gunfire support as the current surface fleet capability. However, it is designed and built with significant space and weight margins to enable incremental acquisition should an emerging requirement necessitate a different equipment fit. Under such circumstances, the design could be modified to incorporate improved land attack capabilities including a larger calibre gun or a land attack missile system.

UK Forces (Sierra Leone)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the UK armed forces are serving in Sierra Leone.

Adam Ingram: On 31 July 2002 the security situation in Sierra Leone was judged to be benign enough to end Operation Silkman (the overarching operation for United Kingdom forces in Sierra Leone) leaving a self-sustaining UK-led International Military Advisory and Training Team (EVLATT).
	The IMATT currently involves some 114 personnel, of which around 100 are members of the UK armed forces. The UK also provides the Chief of Staff, six HQ staff officers and 15 military observers to the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).

SCOTLAND

Ministerial Travel

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what her estimate is of the total expenditure by her Department on ministerial travel (a) in the UK and (b) abroad in each year from 1995–96 to 2002–03 (estimated); and if she will make a statement.

Helen Liddell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State, Cabinet Office, on 22 January 2003, Official Report, column 334W.

Sewel Convention

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if she will make a statement on the way in which Sewel motions work.

Helen Liddell: The 'Sewel Convention' is a commitment made by the Government during the passage of the Scotland Bill that "the UK Parliament would not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters except with the agreement of the devolved legislature. The Devolved Administrations will be responsible for seeking such agreement as may be required for this purpose on an approach from the UK Government". Proposals for the inclusion of provisions relating to devolved matters in a UK Bill, and therefore the need to invoke the Sewel Convention, arise at the initiative of either the UK Government or the Executive, but in every case, require a process of discussion and agreement between the two Administrations. That process normally involves an exchange of correspondence between the UK Minister who is in charge of the Bill and the First Minister, or the relevant portfolio Minister.
	My Department recently provided written evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Procedures Committee on the way in which Sewel motions work. Further information on Sewel motions is provided in Devolution Guidance Note 10, "Post-Devolution Primary Legislation Affecting Scotland", which is published on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what evidence has been collated by the Government on the education of women in western Afghanistan.

Clare Short: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Salisbury (Mr. Key) on 27 January 2003, Official Report, column 573W.

Central Africa

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress is being made towards an evaluation of the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic.

Clare Short: Until now, inter-agency missions to assess the humanitarian situation in rebel-controlled areas have not been able to take place due to security concerns. Where assessments of the humanitarian situation have taken place outside of the capital, Bangui, they have been by plane to government-controlled areas in the north-west of CAR. Reports from agencies have stated that in these areas there is not a humanitarian crisis but that there is a shortage of medical supplies.
	Recent reports from the UN, however, state that rebels in the north and centre of the CAR have now given approval to a humanitarian assessment mission in the zones under their control this month. Eight UN agencies will assess the humanitarian, health, nutritional, economic and agricultural situation in rebel-held areas, as well as looking at issues relating to education, food security, water facilities, sanitation and human rights.

Food Aid (Africa)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the levels of theft of food aid stocks in (a) Malawi, (b) Zimbabwe and (c) Zambia.

Clare Short: The distribution of food aid stocks have been well monitored and policed with very low levels of theft:
	Malawi:
	No significant reports of theft of food aid stocks from either the World Food Programme (WFP) or NGOs involved in the distribution of food aid.
	Zambia:
	Theft from food aid stocks, since the start of the relief operation, has mainly been confined to isolated, infrequent, and extremely small-scale incidents of pilfering from remote warehouses, and remains well below the world food programme's 2 per cent. threshold for "loss acceptability". One slightly more significant incident did occur in January, in Sinazongwe district, when 84 MT of transiting WFP food-aid was seized by local villagers who were mistakenly concerned that they would be denied their January ration if the food left their district. The perpetrators have been arrested, some of the food has already been recovered, and the matter remains in the hands of the Zambian police authorities.
	Zimbabwe:
	The level of losses in Zimbabwe remains very low, and low by comparison with very many other humanitarian operations worldwide.

Food Aid (Africa)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on food aid requirements in (a) Zimbabwe, (b) Zambia, (c) Swaziland, (d) Lesotho, (e) Mozambique and (f) Malawi.

Clare Short: The current food aid requirements as detailed in the December 2002—Regional Emergency Food Security Assessment Report from the Southern African Development Community are as follows.
	Zimbabwe:
	Some 7,180,000 people, who represent 52 per cent. of the population, will require an estimated 345,000 tonnes of emergency cereal food assistance through March 2003.
	Zambia:
	Some 2,770,000 people, who represent 28 per cent. of the population, will require an estimated 133,000 tonnes of emergency cereal food assistance through March 2003.
	Swaziland:
	Some 300,000 people, who represent 31 per cent. of the population, will require an estimated 173,000 tonnes of emergency cereal food assistance through March 2003. Lesotho:
	Some 760,000 people, who represent 34 per cent. of the population, will require an estimated 36,000 tonnes of emergency cereal food assistance through March 2003.
	Mozambique:
	Some 650,000 people, who represent 3 per cent. of the population, will require an estimated 31,000 tonnes of emergency cereal food assistance through March 2003.
	Malawi:
	Some 3,590,000 people, who represent 31 per cent. of the population, will require an estimated 173,000 tonnes of emergency cereal food assistance through March 2003.

Food Aid (Africa)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate she has made of the number of hunger related deaths in southern Africa since November 2002; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: While there has been some deterioration in the food security situation in southern Africa, global acute malnutrition levels have not been found to be alarming. This may be due to a number of factors indicating that the crisis goes beyond food alone. There have been few recorded deaths that can be attributed directly to starvation. However, mortality among those already sick, particularly people suffering from AIDS, have increased as a result of poor nutrition.

Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures the Government are taking for the return of refugees to parts of Iraq following military action in the region.

Clare Short: A key objective for the international community, including Her Majesty's Government, is to enable and assist refugee populations to return to their own countries and communities as soon as it is safe for them to do so.

Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what actions are being taken by the Government in conjunction with European partners to deal with the likely increase of Iraqi refugees in Iran in the event of military action in the region.

Clare Short: We and many of our European partners are in close contact with relevant specialist international agencies about the potential for an increased flow of refugees into Iran and other neighbouring countries. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, receives annual core funding from my Department partly to enable them to prepare for such eventualities. They are drawing up appropriate contingency plans, including the prepositioning of food and other basic supplies.

Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what representations she made to the US Department of State in the development of their contingency plans for humanitarian assistance following military action in Iraq announced by the State Department of the 16 of January;
	(2)  if she will make a statement on the contingency plans that have been developed by the Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department for the provision of humanitarian assistance to Iraq;
	(3)  what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on (a) the problems caused to delivering humanitarian assistance to Iraq posed by Iraqi air defences and (b) the provision of British troops in the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Iraq;
	(4)  what consultation her Department's Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department has had with the Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defence in the development of contingency plans for providing humanitarian assistance to Iraq in the event of any military action in the region;
	(5)  what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the use of British forces to provide protection for relief workers in Iraq.

Clare Short: My Department is drawing up contingency plans for a range of eventualities in Iraq, and is holding regular discussions about these with other Government Departments, and with international partners. My Department consults regularly with the Ministry of Defence on a variety of issues at official and ministerial level. This includes discussions about DFID's and MOD's contingency planning for a range of eventualities in Iraq, notably the importance of factoring the humanitarian risks of any conflict into military planning, and the provision of humanitarian assistance in a high-risk conflict environment. My Department has regular discussions with US counterparts on a similar set of issues, and coordinates with the MOD and the FCO on discussions they have with their counterparts.

Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with Iraqi opposition groups as part of the Department's Conflict Reduction Policy in the event of regime change in Iraq.

Clare Short: None.

Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessments have been made of the extent of the problem of landmines in Iraq; and what the British Government involvement will be in their removal.

Clare Short: The UK Government are already involved in landmines work in Northern Iraq through its support to the Mines Advisory Group (currently £1.3 million over two years), who are involved in clearance, training and awareness. Although some international agencies able to operate in the rest of the country have made some assessments of the extent of the land mine problem, comprehensive assessments are not available. In the event of an internationally co-operative Iraqi Government, a priority for the international community, including Her Majesty's Government, will be to help with assessing the number and scale of landmine affected areas, and to assist the establishment of programmes to make these areas safe.

Iraq

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations have been made by the Government to the UN Sanctions Committee about the provision, by NGOs, of mobile medical units in certain parts of Iraq in the event of future military action.

Clare Short: None.

Iraq

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the report of the United Nations Office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs on integrated humanitarian contingency plans for Iraq and neighbouring countries.

Clare Short: My Department has regular discussions with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and other international partners, on a variety of issues including contingency planning for a range of eventualities in Iraq. UN plans are as good as they can be given the risks and uncertainties

Madagascar

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the level of malnutrition in Madagascar.

Clare Short: The latest information we have is that some 22,500 malnourished children are being provided supplementary feeding in Antananarivo. In addition, World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that some 400,000 people in Madagascar are in need of food relief and have scaled up their operations accordingly. However, despite the recent flooding, the UN Agencies report that the worst aspects of last year's crisis are now over.
	Due to the fragility of the situation, the potential for a humanitarian crisis exists. My Department will continue to monitor the situation; if it should worsen, or continue for any length of time, we would then consider providing support to the agencies already working in this area, such as the WFP.

Madagascar

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what bilateral aid the Government are giving to Madagascar.

Clare Short: DFID has no development programme in Madagascar. In countries where the UK does not have a bilateral development partnership, such as Madagascar, the UK helps ensure that the international system as a whole is as efficient and effective as possible in meeting common development goals. DFID provides nearly 20 per cent. of EC funds and contributes to the UN and other multilateral agencies. In addition, DFID fund small projects through the British Embassy Small Grants Scheme and the Civil Society Challenge Fund.

Madagascar

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what impact the shortage of Ambovombe algae is having on food relief efforts in Madagascar.

Clare Short: A combination of drought in the south and flooding in the north of Madagascar has led to a shortage of the country's staple food, rice (additionally, in the north, the lack of clean water and latrines increases the risk of disease). The World Food Programme (WFP) has said that substitute foods, of which algae is one, are becoming scarce.
	The lack of rice and dietary substitutes means that the potential for a humanitarian crisis exists in Madagascar. The WFP is presently in discussion with partners to identify the most appropriate response to the worsening situation.
	The United Kingdom's membership contributions to the United Nations and European Union form part of the resources which the WFP draws upon in such a crisis. If the situation should worsen, or continue for any length of time, my Department would then consider what additional steps to take.

Madagascar

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the humanitarian effects of the rising cost of rice in Madagascar.

Clare Short: The increase in the cost of rice in Madagascar is due to a combination of drought in the south and flooding in the north. In the north the harvest season for rice will begin shortly; if the flooding prevents this taking place, then prices will continue to rise and the food security situation will deteriorate further.
	The potential for a humanitarian crisis exists. My Department will continue to monitor the situation; if it should worsen, or continue for any length of time, we would then consider providing support to the agencies already working in this area, such as the World Food Programme.

Special Advisers/Press Officers

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers have been employed by her Department in each year from 1994–95 to 2002–03; and at what cost in each year.

Clare Short: The information is as follows:
	Special advisers
	My Department has employed two special advisers in each year since 1997. The salary cost for each financial year is shown in the table:
	
		£
		
			  Salary costs 
		
		
			 1997–98 43,250 
			 1998–99 61,387 
			 1999–2000 72,885 
			 2000–01 72,293 
			 2001–02 83,923 
			 2002–03 74,220 
		
	
	The Department for International Development did not exist before 1997. The ODA, which had a more limited remit, had no special advisers in post prior to 1997. Press officers
	The number of press officers employed in my Department and costs from 1996–97 to 2001–02 are shown in the following table:
	
		£
		
			  Number of press officers Annual cost 
		
		
			 1996–97 6 195,000 
			 1997–98 6 243,000 
			 1998–99 4 240,000 
			 1999–2000 3.3 100,000 
			 2000–01 4.5 150,000 
			 2001–02 4 148,000 
		
	
	For 1996–97 to 1998–99, the figures are taken from the "Government Information and Communications Service" (HC 770), published by the Select Committee on Public Administration (29 July 1998), and include the Head and Deputy Head of the Information Department, who were not fully employed on press duties, but whose costs cannot be disaggregated from the totals. Separate records have not been maintained by DFID for those years.
	From 1999–2000 to 2001–02, the costs include annual salary and pension contributions.
	The information for the current year 2002–03 is not yet available.

Sudan

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the impact which recent violence in the Mayom County of Sudan is having on humanitarian relief efforts.

Clare Short: No reliable figures have been received on the disruption of humanitarian and relief services following the recent violence in Mayom County, Western Upper Nile. We understand the UN is deploying security and needs assessment teams to the region.

Third World Summit

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether her Department is sending observers to the Third World Social Forum in Porto Alegre; and if she will make a statement.

Clare Short: One of my officials attended the summit as an observer.

World Food Programme

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what response she will make to the World Food Programme appeal of 28 January for (a) Mauritania, (b) Cape Verde, (c) Gambia, (d) Mali and (e) Senegal.

Clare Short: The World Food Programme appeal to donors on 28 January urged donors to contribute towards its Emergency Operation Appeal for the Western Sahel. We have already responded to this appeal and are providing a contribution of £1,000,000.

TREASURY

Retirement Green Paper

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Government expect an increase in the normal retirement age for public sector pension schemes, as proposed on page 106 of the Green Paper on Working and Saving for Retirement (Cm 5677), to be accompanied by a reduction in accrual rates.

Paul Boateng: The higher normal pension age proposed in the Green Paper is likely to be introduced in most public service pension schemes as part of a package of changes. It will not be possible until the proposals for each scheme have been worked up to say what impact, if any, these changes will have on scheme accrual rates.

Accounting Firms

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will announce his decision on Government proposals to introduce the compulsory rotation of accounting firms.

Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry explained in her statement to the House on 29 January that the Co-ordinating Group on Audit and Accounting Issues had recommended against compulsory rotation of audit firms, and that the Government agreed with that recommendation.

Budget Statement

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to make an announcement on the timing of the 2003 Budget Statement; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The date of the Budget will be announced in due course.

Euro

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the date by which his Department will have completed its assessment of the five economic tests; what his policy is on holding a referendum on membership of the euro in the current Parliament if the five economic tests are not met by June 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: The Government have made clear that they will complete an assessment of the five economic tests within two years of the start of this Parliament. If, on the basis of the assessment, a decision to recommend joining is taken by the Government, it will be put to a vote in Parliament and then to a referendum of the British people.

Fireams

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many firearms intended for illegal importation were seized by HM Customs and Excise in (a) 2001 and (b) 2002.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Kilfoyle) on 30 January 2003, Official Report, columns 1000–04W.

Inheritance Tax (Working Farmhouses)

David Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the treatment for inheritance tax of working farmhouses; what plans he has to change that policy; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The long-standing rule is that farmhouses occupied for agricultural purposes qualify for inheritance tax relief so long as they are of a character appropriate to the property as a whole.

Inland Revenue

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 20 January 2003 Official Report, column 55–56W, on the Inland Revenue, what his estimate is of the number of staff who transferred over to the Inland Revenue in 1999 from the contributions and benefits agencies; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The figures requested were published in January 2002 in the Inland Revenue Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2000. On 1 April 1999, around 8,400 full-time equivalent units of staff joined the Inland Revenue from the Contributions Agency and, on 1 October 1999, 3,700 staff joined the Inland Revenue from the Benefits Agency.

Landfill Tax

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what use has been made of the 80 per cent. the Government has held back from the Landfill Tax; and when he will announce its future proposals for the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme.

John Healey: Since the landfill tax was introduced in 1996, revenue from the landfill tax that has not been claimed as tax credits to support projects through the landfill tax credit scheme has been used to finance a 0.2 per cent. point reduction in employers' National Insurance Contributions.
	A statement regarding transition funding arrangements during 2003–04 for ongoing waste projects in England which are currently supported through the landfill tax credit scheme was made to the House on 3 February 2003. This statement also confirmed that in 2003–04 landfill operators may claim a tax credit of up to 6.5 per cent. of their annual landfill tax liability for contributions to local environmental projects, ensuring that the current level of funding for these types of projects is maintained. The Government is considering criticisms of the current landfill tax credit scheme and aims to set out any plans for reform of the continuing successor scheme.

Landfill Tax

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many representations he has received from organisations regarding the potential impact of the new Landfill Tax Credit Scheme on their viability.

John Healey: The Government have received a range of representations on the reforms to the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme announced in the last Pre-Budget Report.
	My written statement of 3 February 2003 (Transitional Funding of Landfill Tax Credit Scheme) set out the Government's plans for providing transitional funding during 2003–4 for current on-going waste and recycling projects in England affected by the change.

Landfill Tax

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, under the reforms to the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme, the money earmarked to maintain the current budget for local community environmental projects will continue to support the range of projects which have currently benefited from this sum.

John Healey: From 1 April 2003, landfill site operators will no longer be able to claim tax credit for contributions to projects under objects C and CC of the scheme. However, the reformed scheme will continue to make funding available for local community environmental projects. The Government are considering criticisms of the current landfill tax credit scheme and aim to set out any plans for reform of the continuing successor scheme on a budget timetable.

Mapeley

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he was informed before the agreement to sell the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise offices to Mapeley that they were to be owned by a company based in a tax haven; what allowance for the cost advantages that gave the company was made in the rent agreed; whether bidding was open to British-based companies; and what access he has to the accounts of the new owner.

Dawn Primarolo: When they appeared before the Treasury Sub-committee on 11 December 2002, the Chairmen of the Inland Revenue and the HM Customs and Excise explained the background to the STEPS contract and made it clear that Ministers were not informed of the offshore nature of this contract. The transcript of this hearing is publicly available. Ministers do not have access to Mapeley's accounts.

New Aircraft Carriers

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what research he has commissioned into the effect on the British economy of a decision to grant the licence to build two new aircraft carriers for the Ministry of Defence to (a) BAE Systems, (b) Thales and (c) a joint bid from BAE Systems and Thales;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with other Ministers regarding a decision to grant the licence to build two new aircraft carriers for the Ministry of Defence;
	(3)  what discussions took place between officials from his Department and officials from the Ministry of Defence concerning the division of an order of two aircraft carriers between BAE Systems and Thales; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: The new aircraft carriers will provide our armed forces with a significant improvement in military capability and will create or sustain 10,000 jobs across the United Kingdom. The Ministry of Defence has not yet completed the assessment phase, but at this stage we believe that the best way forward is to combine the strengths of both bidders in an alliance. The statement made to this House by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 30 January 2003 clearly sets out the rationale for this strategy. Both bidders have agreed with this proposal and discussions are continuing with them. The final decision to place a contract is planned to be taken in 2004. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has consulted Treasury and DTI Ministers at each significant stage of the project. Discussions between Ministers will continue as the programme progresses, as will discussions between my officials and those in the Ministry of Defence.

Private Finance Initiative

Howard Flight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the provision of information on Special Purpose Vehicles; and what guidelines he has issued on how and when companies should disclose profits from work conducted under the Private Finance Initiative;
	(2)  what discussions officials from (a) his Department and (b) the Accounting Standards Board have had with (i) Amey, (ii) Amec, (iii) Balfour Beatty, (iv) Jarvis and (v) Laing concerning how and when companies should disclose profits from work conducted under the Private Finance Initiative;
	(3)  what discussions officials from his Department have had with representatives of the Accounting Standards Board regarding (a) the provision of information on Special Purpose Vehicles and (b) guidelines on how and when companies should disclose profits from work conducted under the Private Finance Initiative.

Paul Boateng: The provision of accounting information by all companies is a matter for the independent Accounting Standards Board, not for Government. Special Purpose Vehicles are required to abide by the ASB's rules, just as all other limited companies are.
	The Accounting Standards Board is an independent body and the Government do not have details of the meetings that the Board and its officials hold with third parties. HM Treasury has observer status on the Accounting Standards Board and has regular contacts with the Board on a range of issues.
	Treasury officials frequently meet with PFI stakeholders, including PFI contractors and investors, to discuss a variety of subjects.

Public Service Agreement

Mark Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 20 January 2003, Official Report, column 50W, on the Public Service Agreement, whether the annual planning round of his Department uses Public Service Agreements as a direct measure of the staffing levels required to run his Department; and if he will publish the guidelines used by the Treasury Management Board.

Paul Boateng: Our Public Service Agreement Targets are central to how the Department allocates its resources during the annual business planning round. The business planning guidelines used by the Treasury Management Board are being placed in the Library of the House.

Public Service Agreement

Tony Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library the guidance provided to Departments on how they should report progress and achievement against their Public Service Agreement targets.

Paul Boateng: A copy of the guidance issued for the spring 2003 departmental reports has been placed in the Library. The reports will include reporting against Public Service Agreement targets.

Public Service Agreement

Tony Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what definition he uses of 'partially met' in relation to Departments' reporting of achievement against their public service agreement targets.

Paul Boateng: 'Partially met' means that at least one part, but not all parts, of a target has been met.

Tax Offices

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax offices there are in the UK.

John Healey: The Inland Revenue has over 600 offices throughout the UK, ranging widely in size and function.

Tax Returns

Michael Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of tax returns for the year to 5 April 2002 were sent on behalf of taxpayers to the Inland Revenue by (a) chartered accountants, (b) certified accountants, (c) other agents using the term accountant in their designations and (d) solicitors.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available.

Tobacco

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 27 January 2003, Official Report, column 605W, concerning tobacco, what proportion of travellers previously purchasing at the indicative levels for tobacco were assumed to have an intent to resell illegally in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: Of those travellers purchasing at the previous indicative levels for tobacco, it was assumed that around 7 per cent. were doing so with the intent to resell illegally in the UK.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Licensing (Churches)

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received regarding the implications of the new licensing legislation for churches; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: We have received many representations from members of the public and religious organisations about the proposal in the Licensing Bill to extend the entertainment licensing requirement for churches beyond Greater London, where it currently applies.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made a statement to the House on 3 February 2003, Official Report, columns 7–8WS, setting out the conclusions of our consideration of the provision of entertainment and entertainment facilities in places of public religious worship and village halls, church halls and other community buildings under the Licensing Bill. The Government have tabled an amendment to the Bill that would exempt secular entertainment provided in places of public religious worship and the provision of entertainment facilities in such places from the need to obtain a licence under the Bill when it is enacted. Music for the purposes of or incidental to a religious service or meeting will remain exempt.

Tourism Industry

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the per capita spend on the tourist industry in England was in 2001–02.

Kim Howells: Direct financial support for the tourism industry in 2001–02 totalled £66.5 million, equating to £1.35 per capita in England, although £49.7 million of this was for the British Tourist Authority to promote Britain as a whole. Additionally, much other Government funding, including funding from my Department on, for example, museums and galleries, also benefits tourism.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Iraq (Administration Costs)

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the locations in Iraq where the UNMOVIC and IAEA inspectors have found the materials and equipment for weapons of mass destruction set out in the Government's Iraq dossier of 24 September 2002.

Mike O'Brien: Given the advance publicity about the sites in the dossier the Government did not expect Iraq to leave things to be found. Of the materials and equipment mentioned in the dossier, UNMOVIC and the IAEA have reported uncovering a number of unfilled chemical munitions at a military equipment storage site and a large quantity of nuclear-related documents concealed at the home of an Iraqi scientist. Although not listed in the dossier, the inspectors have also discovered a very large number of rocket motors at a missile production facility. None of these discoveries were made at sites identified in the dossier.
	As was made clear in the dossier and in numerous public statements, Iraq has become very adept at concealing its weapons. The inspection teams are continuing their searches at large numbers of locations throughout Iraq.

Iraq (Administration Costs)

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the interim findings of the UNMOVIC and IAEA Iraq inspection teams as presented in their respective reports to the United Nations Security Council on 27 January.

Mike O'Brien: I refer my hon. Friend to the statement made on 3 February 2003, Official Report, columns 21–38, by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister regarding the Iraq situation.

Afghanistan Government

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been received by his Department concerning the stability of the coalition Government in Afghanistan.

Mike O'Brien: We have not received any representations about the current stability of the Transitional Authority.

Balkans

Robert Wareing: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice his Department is giving to travellers wishing to visit (a) Kosovo and (b) Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 27 January 2003
	We are not currently advising against all travel to Bosnia-Herzegovina. We are advising against non-essential travel to Kosovo.
	FCO travel advice is available on the FCO's website www.fco.gov.uk and by telephone on 020 7008 0232/0233, by fax on 020 7008 0155/0164 or on written request from the Travel Advice Unit.

Ministerial Travel

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many times since 2001 he has taken flights within his departmental duties in the UK; how many of these were (a) charter flights, (b) first or club class and (c) by helicopter; and who accompanied him on each trip.

Jack Straw: Between January and June 2001, the then Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Robin Cook), did not undertake any UK travel on departmental business. Since June 2001, I have travelled within the UK on departmental business on three occasions-once on an RAF aircraft; once by commercial flight in business class; and once by helicopter. The details requested are as follows. 27 July 2002:
	I travelled from London to Manchester in business class on a commercial flight to attend the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. I was accompanied by my daughter (whose ticket I paid for myself) and by a Special Branch Protection Officer.
	27 August 2002:
	I travelled to Edinburgh and Belfast on EU-related regional visit on an RAF HS125. I was accompanied on this aircraft by my Private Secretary; a special adviser; three officials and a Special Branch Protection Officer.
	6 September 2002:
	I travelled on an RAF helicopter from London to Birmingham to a speech. Travel had originally been scheduled by train. At less than 48 hours notice, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia despatched his Foreign Minister to deliver a message to the Prime Minister. At the Prime Minister's request, I hosted the meeting on the morning of Friday 6 September. The only way to get to Birmingham in time to deliver the long-planned speech was by helicopter which was provided by the RAF. I was accompanied by my Private Secretary and by a Special Branch Protection Officer.

Pakistan

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Pakistan authorities on democracy in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: We welcomed the holding of multi-party elections in Pakistan on 10 October. In November my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister wrote to President Musharraf and Prime Minister Jamali and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary wrote to Foreign Minister Kasuri. They made clear our readiness to assist in promoting democracy in Pakistan and confirmed our commitment to remain engaged with Pakistan throughout this transition. We place great importance on the transfer of power to the National Assembly and continue to believe that sustained strengthening of the judiciary, the rule of law and respect for human rights is the best long-term guarantee of Pakistan's democracy.

Terrorist Organisations (Funding)

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports his Department has received concerning the funding of terrorist organisations since 11 September 2001.

Mike O'Brien: The FCO discusses terrorist financing with a wide range of countries and in multilateral fora including the EU and UN. The FCO receives reports from the UN 1390 Monitoring Group on the implementation of sanctions against al-Qaeda.

West Africa

Tony Colman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to address problems of regional instability in the Mano River region of West Africa, with particular reference to (a) the presence and conduct of Liberian and Sierra Leonean mercenaries in Cote d'Ivoire and other neighbouring countries and (b) the progress on decommissioning of small arms and light weapons in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Bill Rammell: Stability in Sierra Leone is threatened by conflicts in Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire. We are supporting international and regional initiatives to resolve the conflict in Liberia especially through our membership of the International Contact Group and in Cote d'Ivoire.
	Liberia remains a centre of gravity for mercenaries and armed groups in the region. Liberia continues to ignore the demands of the UN Security Council by sponsoring armed groups in the region. We aim to continue to contain the activities of the Liberian regime by maintaining effective UN sanctions against Liberia. We remain concerned about reports of Liberian involvement in the rebellion in Cote d'Ivoire.
	We have taken steps to limit the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the sub-region through UN arms embargoes in Liberia and Sierra Leone, a disarmament programme in Sierra Leone and support for the ECOWAS Small Arms monitoring Mechanism.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Congestion Charge

Roger Gale: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what assessment the Commission has made of the impact of the imposition of a congestion tax under the terms of the Transport Act 2000 upon shift-working staff employed by the House.

Archy Kirkwood: The implications of the congestion charge for staff of the House who have to work unsocial hours have been considered carefully. As I said in my reply to the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) on 20 November 2002, Official Report, column 151W, the Commission will continue to keep an eye on developments, but has no current plans to reimburse employees.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Disability Living Allowance

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of disability living allowance there were in each year since its introduction, broken down by local authority area.

Maria Eagle: The information has been placed in the Library.

Disability Living Allowance

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many deaf people had access to a qualified British Sign Language interpreter at their aural tribunal for disability living allowance; and on how many occasions the expenses of a British Sign Language interpreter have been met by the Appeal Board;
	(2)  how many appeals by deaf applicants for disability living allowance have been taken to an aural tribunal in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: This is a matter for Neil Ward, Chief Executive of the Appeals Service. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Neil Ward to Mr. Malcolm Bruce dated 27 January 2003
	The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your questions regarding appeals in respect of Disability Living Allowance from deaf people and their access to a qualified British Sign Language interpreter at the oral tribunal hearing where requested.
	Any party to a tribunal hearing who is profoundly deaf may request a sign language interpreter. Where such a request is made the Appeals Service will meet the associated costs and aim to provide a qualified, registered interpreter. No information is available on the number of appeals by deaf appellants in respect of Disability Living Allowance. During 2001–02 over £363,000 was spent on the provision of interpreters but this includes language translation where someone is not able to understand English. This financial year, up until 30 November 2002, £326,000 has been spent on the provision of interpreters.
	I hope this reply is helpful.

Further Education Students

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether lump sum payments from school sixth form and college access funds used for living costs are treated as income or capital.

Malcolm Wicks: The treatment of access fund payments in the income-related benefits depends on whether the payment is made as a lump sum or in regular instalments and whether or not the payment is intended to meet general living costs.
	Lump-sum payments not intended to form part of a series of payments are treated as capital. Where the payment is intended for items other than living costs it is disregarded provided it has been spent within 52 weeks, at which point the student will be contacted to verify their current savings.
	Payments made on a regular basis are treated as income. Where the payments are intended to meet living costs the first £20 a week is ignored. Regular payments made for other purposes are disregarded in full.

National Insurance

Peter Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will ensure that employees are notified (a) of the amount received in respect of each employee annually for national insurance by his Department and (b) whether it is a qualifying year for pension purposes; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	Employers are required to provide their employees with a notice showing the amount of contributions they have paid each year. A contributor can request a statement of their national insurance account from the Inland Revenue's National Insurance Contributions Office, and if a particular year is not a qualifying year then the contributor is advised how much to pay to make it a qualifying year.

Public Service Agreements

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he will publish the annual targets for each major business on accuracy, unit costs and customer service underlying his Department's technical note on its public service agreement; and if he will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: Annual targets for each of the Department's Executive Agencies will be published in their respective business plans in due course. Copies will be laid before the House and placed in the Library.

Unallocated Funds

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the total unallocated funds within his departmental expenditure limit (a) at the start of the financial year and (b) to date.

Ian McCartney: The Departmental Unallocated Provision at the start of the financial year was £94.088 million and remains so at 31 December 2002.

HEALTH

Unlawful Sexual Activity

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what target he has set for the reduction in (a) under-16 conceptions and (b) the incidence of unlawful sexual activity among under-16s.

Hazel Blears: Our teenage pregnancy strategy, launched in 1999, has a goal of halving the under-18 conception rate and setting a firmly established downward trend in the conception rate for under-16s by 2010. There is an interim target within the NHS Plan of a 15 per cent. reduction by 2004.
	The teenage pregnancy strategy is multi-faceted and based on the best available evidence. Integral to the strategy is helping young people to resist pressure to have early sex through improved sex and relationship and personal social and health education programmes in schools and out of school settings, and supporting parents in talking to their children about sex and relationships issues.
	Early signs of the strategy's impact are encouraging with latest data for 2000 showing a 6.2 per cent. reduction from 1998 in both under-18 and under-16 conception rates.

Accident and Emergency Services

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS hospitals in the Greater London area provide accident and emergency services; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: There are 27 national health service trusts in London with 24 hour accident and emergency (A&E) departments. These are spread over 32 hospital sites.
	Changes in the configuration of A&E departments are made in response to local circumstances to ensure that people have the right balance of emergency care services locally. When changes are made, clinical advice is taken about safety and quality.

Adolescent Mental Health Unit, Tooting

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the new adolescent mental health unit will open at Springfield hospital in Tooting.

John Hutton: It is anticipated that the adolescent mental health unit will open in June 2003.

Beef (Spinal Cord)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the European Union's Beef Management Committee to discuss the practical problems of identifying spinal cord in frozen carcasses; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The European Union's Beef Management Committee has so far not discussed the practical problems of identifying spinal cord in frozen carcasses. Instead, it is foreseen that the EU's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health will be the appropriate forum for discussing this and other specifically veterinary aspects of the supply of beef from intervention.
	The United Kingdom raised this and other related issues at the meeting of this committee on 22–23 January. Those member states which have previously sent ex-intervention beef to the UK with specified risk material still attached gave assurances about the enhanced measures put in place to prevent a recurrence.

Cancelled Operations

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancelled operations in (a) England and Wales and (b) Wakefield and Pontefract hospitals have been attributed to a lack of capacity of high dependency and intensive care beds in the last 12 months for which statistics are available.

John Hutton: Quarterly data are collected on the number of operations cancelled by the hospital for non-clinical reasons at the last minute, that is, on the day patients are due to arrive or after arrival in hospital, or on the day of their operation and on the day of surgery. These data are not broken down into the reasons for cancellation.
	Cancelled operations data at England level and by national health service trust are available in the Library and on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/data requests.htm.

Cancer

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to place his cancer funding tracking exercise on a permanent footing.

Hazel Blears: The current work to identify investment in cancer services is an exceptional exercise.
	We are devolving power from the centre to locally run services, to allow the freedom to innovate and improve care for patients. The increased resources that we have made available and will continue to make available to support the implementation of the Cancer Plan will move to the national health service frontline.
	Primary care trusts will have freedom to decide where NHS resources are best spent, but they will need to account publicly for how they have used resources against the test of high clinical standards and good value for money.

Cancer

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations for cancer patients have been cancelled on two or more occasions in the last available 12 month period.

John Hutton: Quarterly data are collected on the number of operations cancelled by the hospital for non-clinical reasons at the last minute, that is, on the day patients are due to arrive or after arrival in hospital or on the day of their operation and on the day of surgery. These data are not broken down into which specialties patients were cancelled under, nor do they show if a patient's operation has been cancelled more than once.
	The NHS Plan cancelled operations guarantee has been in place since 1 April 2002. It states that if a patient's operation is cancelled by the hospital on the day of surgery for non-clinical reasons, the hospital will have to offer another binding date within a maximum of the next 28 days, or fund the patient's treatment at the time and hospital of the patient's choice.
	Cancelled operations data are available in the Library and on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/data requests.htm.

Chiropodists

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Health Professions Council on the use of protected titles of chiropodist and podiatrist; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: I met with the President and chief executive of the Health Professions Council (HPC) on 4 December 2002; at which meeting all aspects of the HPC's proposals were discussed. However, it is for the HPC to propose and the Privy Council to determine the protected titles that will be associated with the parts and sub sections of the health professions register.
	The aim of registration is to assure the public of the competence of registered healthcare professionals. The HPC consulted about which titles should be protected by law and restricted to use by those registered. These titles indicate that those registered have met HPC's standards of competence. Anyone who does not meet those standards may practise using an unprotected title.

Chiropodists

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will recommend to the Health Professions Council that they institute a sub-register to enable chiropodists to practise by using an unprotected title; and if he will make a statement on the need for protected titles other than chiropodist.

John Hutton: The aim of registration is to assure the public of the competence of healthcare professionals and, when necessary, to protect them. The Health Professions Council consulted about which titles should be protected by law and has undertaken extensive market research to understand the public's perception of titles currently in use by health professionals. The introduction of a sub register would not serve the aims of registration and would be likely to lead to confusion and would not assist the public when trying to make informed choices about whom to consult about their health.

Correspondence

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will reply to the letter of 1 November 2002 from the hon. Member for Northavon regarding Mr. G. S., DoH reference PO 1019156.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 28 January 2003
	A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 30 January.

Doctors (International Recruitment)

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to increase the international recruitment of doctors to the NHS.

John Hutton: The international recruitment of doctors continues to make an important contribution to the expansion of the medical workforce. At the end of 2002 further advertisements were placed in European journals to encourage applications.

General Practice

Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the reasons are for the delay in publishing the proposals for the new GP contract; and what steps have been taken to prevent further delay.

John Hutton: The Government supports the decision of the National Health Service Confederation and the General Practice Council to change the timetable for publication of the new general medical services contract and is committed to doing all it can to support them in reaching a swift conclusion to the negotiations.

General Practice

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of patients who have put off visit to a GP in the last 12 months because of inconvenient opening hours (a) for each NHS region and (b) in total for England, in each of the last five years.

John Hutton: There are no suitable regular data collections to inform such estimates.

General Practice

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on his policy on single hander GP practices.

John Hutton: Small practices are an important part of primary care, as the new general medical services contract framework makes clear. No one practice model has a monopoly on quality of care and single-handed practices continue to make a major contribution to the provision of excellent patient care.

Health Professions Council

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information the Health Professions Council provided to the Department on its proposed transitional arrangements regarding (a) the circumstances in which it intends to test applicants, competence to practise, (b) the likelihood of undertaking such a test and (c) the estimated number of such tests in the two year period allowed; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: As part of the consultation process the Health Professions Council (HPC) undertook between July and September 2002, it provided the Department of Health with three documents:
	"The Future, a Paper for consultation", published in July 2002
	"Your responses", published in December 2002
	"Key decisions", published in December 2002
	The documents contained the HPC's proposals for transitional arrangements and set out the circumstances in which the HPC intends to test applicants' competence to practise.
	The number of such likely tests is not known, as it depends on the number of currently unregistered practitioners who decide to apply for registration.

Health Professions Council

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with the Health Professions Council on the training that new entrants to the register will need to ensure that they will be competent to the required minimum standard within the two year period; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: I met the president and chief executive of the Health Professions Council (HPC) on 4 December 2002; at which meeting all aspects of the HPC's proposals were discussed. It is for the HPC to decide on standards for proficiency to be attained by all new entrants to the register. Training requirements may vary for individual applicants depending on their current proficiency.

Health Protection Agency

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to define the individual responsibilities of the various agencies responsible for responding to acts of bioterrorism are clear once the Health Protection Agency is established.

John Hutton: Our proposals to combine responsibility for functions of various bodies into a unified Health Protection Agency (HPA) offer a coherent, co-ordinated approach to providing specialist support for health protection and health emergency planning. It is intended that the HPA will take responsibility for providing or commissioning the specialist support that the various bodies currently provide. The unified HPA will be equipped to deal with a range of emergencies and to provide a national response. The roles and responsibilities of other national health service organisations have been made available on the Department's emergency planning co-ordination unit's website.

Homeless People

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of the use of (a) accident and emergency and (b) GP services by homeless people.

Hazel Blears: The Department does not collect information about the cost of the use of accident and emergency and general practitioner services by homeless people.

Hostels

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on health facilities for people living in hostels in Greater London.

John Hutton: Primary care trusts (PCTs) have a duty to reduce inequalities in their local areas and if there is a significant homeless/hostel population in their area they will be expected to have developed, or be developing plans to provide appropriate and timely access to healthcare for these people.
	In addition, the new requirement of local authorities to carry out a review of homelessness in their area and develop a homelessness strategy with local partners such as PCTs will help to identify gaps in services and ensure that there is appropriate mainstream and specialist health care for homeless people.
	One way of targeting this group is through personal medical services pilots, where primary care is specifically targeted to meet a particular local need. Many general practitioners and nurses in London also work closely with hostels and day centres to provide health care services to homeless people and often provide health sessions in the hostel or centre.
	In addition, we are generally trying to improve access for all through a variety of different access routes, for example, through walk-in-centres, diagnosis treatment centres and one-stop-shop facilities.

Junior Doctors

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the impact of the introduction of the New Deal for junior doctors and the resources made available to support its implementation.

John Hutton: The New Deal has gradually reduced the hours worked by junior doctors since its inception in 1991. However the New Deal targets have changed and become tougher, making direct comparison across the years misleading.
	In 1991, to comply with the New Deal a junior doctor had to work less than 82 hours a week; in 1993, 72 hours a week and in 1995, 56 hours a week. The introduction of stricter rest requirements in 1998 and of the new junior doctors' pay system in December 2000 led to temporary increases in non-compliance. The overall trend, however, has been a substantial reduction in the hours worked by junior doctors from 73 per cent. complying with the 82 hour limit in 1991, to 70.6 per cent. complying with the 56 hour limit in 2002. This has been accompanied by a steady increase in the number of junior doctors working for the national health service: 23,875 in September 1991; 31,777 in September 2002.
	Implementation of the New Deal has been supported by New Deal task forces and their successor bodies, the regional action teams, who have worked with trusts to tackle long hours.
	By the summer of 2003 approximately £31 million will have been made available to the NHS over three years, to support initiatives to help reduce junior doctors' hours and improve their living and working conditions. In addition, £150 million was made available over the same three-year period to support the introduction of the new junior doctors' contract, which was designed to incentivise trusts to comply with New Deal hours and rest requirements.

Local Government Grant Formula

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to alter the children's formula used in the local government grant formula.

Jacqui Smith: We have just completed a review of the formulae that will be used to allocate personal social services resources between local authorities from 2003–04. This resulted in the introduction of a new foster care element of the children's formula. Local government representatives were fully involved in the review and there was a public consultation last summer.

Male Health Workers

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of (a) nurses and (b) health care assistants employed by the NHS are men.

John Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table.
	Health care assistants and other health care support workers work across the range of clinical national health service services. The Department and the NHS have developed titles used to identify them over a period of time. Groups identified in the table comprise the total group of clinical health care support staff working in the NHS.
	
		NHS hospital and community health services (HCHS): qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff, and other specific staff groups by gender in England as at 30 September 2001
		
			  Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff Health care assistants(13) 
		
		
			  Number of staff (head count) 
			 All staff 330,535 204,925 
			 Male 31,451 24,357 
			 Female 268,626 153,437 
			 Unknown 30,458 27,131 
			
			 Percentages   
			 Male 10.5 13.7 
			 Female 89.5 86.3 
		
	
	(13) Includes health care assistants and support staff in acute, elderly and general, paediatrics, maternity, psychiatry, learning disabilities, community services, chiropody, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, radiography, speech and language therapy, pathology and other STT staff; nursing assistants/auxiliaries and STT helper/assistants.
	Notes:
	Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.
	Figures exclude learners and agency staff.
	Percentages are based on data which excludes staff for whom gender is unknown.
	Source:
	Department of Health non-medical workforce census.

Morning After Pill (Safeway Supermarket)

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which branches of Safeway supermarket are involved in the trial distribution of the morning after pill to girls under the age of 16.

Hazel Blears: The information requested is not collected centrally. Arrangements for national health service provision of emergency contraception through community or supermarket pharmacies are a matter for local decision by primary care trusts.

NHS Bodies

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the allocated budgets are for (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06 for (i) each executive non-departmental public body, (ii) special health authority and (iii) tribunal non-departmental public body (A) in cash terms and (B) on a full resource budgeting basis.

David Lammy: Allocations for these bodies have not yet been decided.

NHS Finance

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his statements of 11 December 2002, Official Report, column 269, and of 8 January, Official Report, column 190, what percentage of the total Department of Health Budget, in cash terms, is represented by the resource and capital allocations to primary care trusts, NHS trusts and strategic health authorities.

John Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Percentage of total NHSexpenditure 
			  2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 Primary care trust revenue allocations(14) 73.5 73.1 72.5 
			 Capital Allocations(15) to:
			 Primary care trusts 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 NHS Trusts 1.2 1.2 1.2 
			 Strategic health authorities(16) 1.3 1.3 1.3 
		
	
	(14) As announced in the 11 December 2002 HSC
	(15) As announced in the 8 January 2003 HSC
	(16) For allocation later to PCTs and NHS trusts to fund larger capital projects which required business case approval.
	It is not appropriate to show total revenue and capital allocations as a percentage of the national health service budget. This is because NHS trust capital allocations are financed through primary care trust (PCT) revenue allocations. Adding the two allocations together would mean double counting this element of expenditure.
	In addition to PCT revenue allocations, a number of revenue budgets currently held centrally will be issued to PCTs later, such as those for personal medical service pilot schemes. These will mean that PCTs will control more than 75 per cent. of the NHS budget from 2003–04 onwards.

NHS Treatment Abroad

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost is to his Department of setting up, researching and administering the pilot scheme to treat 234 NHS patients in France and Germany.

John Hutton: Set up costs to the Department for the overseas treatment pilot in France and Germany is broken down as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 Set up and project administration 150,730 
			 Legal fees 278,000 
			 Evaluation and research 40,000 
			 Total 468,730 
		
	
	The learning from this project, including legal advice, has shaped the development of our policy on overseas treatment and current arrangements for commissioning this. It has therefore been of value beyond the scope of the initial project.

Nurses

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data his Department has collated on the pay of (a) practice nurses and (b) NHS nurses; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: The Department's 2000 national health service earnings survey collected detailed earnings data for about 500,000 staff, including nurses directly employed by around 190 NHS trusts and 50 health authorities in England.
	Staff employed by independent contractors, such as general medical practitioners, including most practice nurses, are not included in these surveys and data relating to their earnings is not available centrally.
	Data for the 2002 NHS earnings survey have been collected and are currently being processed and analysed. We plan to publish the results later in the year.
	Copies of the 2000 NHS earnings survey results are available in Library.
	Nursing and midwifery staff who are directly employed in the NHS have their pay determined by an independent pay review body. The Government have accepted in full and implemented the recommendations of the independent pay review body for nursing staff for the last four years without staging pay awards. From April 2002, all nursing staff directly employed in the NHS will have received an above inflation increase of at least 3.6 per cent.

Occupational Stress

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the (a) prevalence and (b) causes of occupational stress among health service employees.

John Hutton: Research carried out in 1998 by the University of Sheffield and the psychological therapies research centre, University of Leeds, suggests that the incidence of work related stress in national health service employees is in the region of 26 per cent. The causes most strongly associated with stress were, work demands; ability to influence work; lack of feedback and role conflict.
	The Department of Health, through its Health at Work in the NHS Campaign, has issued a number of publications to NHS managers to assist them in identifying the causes of workplace stress and work with all staff to minimise their effect.

Overseas Nurse Advice Line

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 17 December 2002, Official Report, column 794W, on the overseas nurse advice line, what budget he has allocated for 2002–03 for (a) the overseas nurse advice line, and (b) the ethical nurse recruitment code of conduct.

John Hutton: The indicative budget for the national health service overseas nurses advice line is £25,000.
	Maintenance of the code of practice is baseline departmental activity which is paid from running costs.

Overseas Nurse Advice Line

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 17 December 2002, Official Report, column 794W, on the overseas nurse advice line, when decisions on future funding will be made; and what assessment he has made of the success of the line.

John Hutton: We intend to continue to fund the national health service overseas nurses advice line.
	Latest figures of calls received by the overseas nurse advice line indicates an increase of 118 per cent. since December 2002. This suggests that the target audience is being reached and that the advice line is fulfilling its objectives.

Paediatric Pathologists

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many paediatric pathologists were employed in each health authority in each year since 1997; and how many established posts there were in the same period.

John Hutton: The information requested is not collected by the Department. The work force census collects data at specialty level only, it does not collect data at sub-specialty level. Paediatric pathology is a sub-specialty of pathology.

Palliative Care

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have completed training as a consultant in palliative care in each of the last three years.

John Hutton: Figures from the Department's work force census suggest that the number of consultants in palliative care has increased by around 90 per cent. since 1997.
	The Department does not collect data on the number of specialist registrars completing training. The table shows the number of consultants in palliative care over the last three years.
	
		Hospital medical consultants in palliative care -- Headcount
		
			 As at 30 September(17) Number 
		
		
			 2002 150 
			 2001 120 
			 2000 110 
			 1999 90 
		
	
	(17) Data as at 30 September, except for 2002, which is at 31 March.
	Source:
	Department of Health medical and dental workforce census

Postgraduate Medical Education andTraining Board

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board will require overseas doctors applying to work in general practice in the UK to undergo familiarisation training as at present.

John Hutton: There is at present no legal requirement for overseas doctors to undergo familiarisation training. However the Joint Committee on Postgraduate Training for General Practice normally makes this requirement of overseas doctors who apply to it for a certificate entitling them to practise in the United Kingdom.
	The draft Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board legislation similarly puts no legal obligations on the Board to require familiarisation training. Once the board is constituted, it will decide how to maintain high standards.

Postgraduate Medical Education andTraining Board

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures the Government will take to ensure that the interests of general practice are properly represented on the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board and its subcommittees.

John Hutton: We agree that general practice should be properly represented on the board and its sub-committees. Appointments to the board will be made in an open and fair manner. There is a wide range of bodies with an interest in the board's work, such as the Medical Royal Colleges, including the Royal College of General Practitioners and other bodies concerned with medical education and training, management of the national health service, patient and carer groups, universities, educationalists, and other health professionals.
	The body must carry out all the duties assigned to it in legislation, particularly the supervision of postgraduate general practice education and training and setting of standards. It will therefore need general practitioner representation in order to do so properly.

PPP/PFI Projects

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total value of all NHS PPP and PFI projects has been since 1997.

John Hutton: Data are not held centrally on the value of all service contracts held by national health service bodies with private sector organisations and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
	Information is held centrally on the value of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes with a capital value over £1 million. 103 NHS PR schemes, with a total capital value of £3.096 billion, have reached financial close since May 1997. This total includes major hospital rebuilding or reprovision projects as well as a range of smaller projects, e.g. for equipment.

Primary Care Trusts

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the £15 million annual investment in consultant sabbaticals starting in 2005–06 will come from the funds allocated to primary care trusts announced on 11 December 2002.

John Hutton: The resources in primary care trust allocations, announced on 11 December, did not include the £15 million annual investment in consultant sabbaticals that is to be made available by 2005–06 under the plans announced by the Department on 23 January. The additional resources will be made available separately.

Primary Care Trusts

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the allocations improving rewards for NHS consultants were included in the original allocations to primary care trusts announced on 11 December 2002.

John Hutton: Resources for implementing the proposed new framework of incentives and rewards for National Health Service consultants have been included in the allocations to primary care trusts for 2003–04 to 2005–06, announced on 11 December 2002.
	Additional funding will be made available to introduce a new system of consultant sabbaticals. Some additional funding may also be made available to NHS employing organisations that choose to implement the new consultant contract.

Professional Practitioners

Barbara Follett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the Health Professions Council will assess whether a health professional practitioner has practiced lawfully, safely and effectively; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: This is a matter for the Health Professions Council, who will be coming forward with their assessment proposals shortly.

Severance Agreements

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many employees of NHS acute hospital trusts have been given severance agreements in excess of £100,000 in each of the past three years.

John Hutton: The information requested is not held centrally.

Specialised Service Consultation

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to make public the forthcoming report on commissioning arrangements for specialised service consultation.

John Hutton: holding answer 21 January 2003
	We plan to publish the results of the consultation shortly.

Waiting Lists

Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients waited more than one year for in-patient treatment in the last period for which figures are available.

John Hutton: At the end of November 2002 there were 12,500 people who had been waiting more than 12 months for admission to hospital.

Waiting Lists

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been on waiting lists in England and Wales for (a) more than 12 months and (b) more than 18 months; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: At the end of November 2002, there were 12,515 patients on waiting lists for admission to hospital who were the responsibility of English primary care trusts (PCTs) and who had been waiting for more than 12 months. There are no patients, for whom English PCTs are responsible, who have been waiting 18 months or more.

Women Doctors

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of doctors employed by the NHS are women.

John Hutton: The table shows the percentage of National Health Service female doctors in England as at 30 September 2001.
	
		
			  Numbers (head count) Percentage 
		
		
			 All NHS doctors(18) 100,319 100 
			
			 Of which female 36,562 36 
		
	
	(18) Excludes hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are also GPs working part-time in hospitals.
	Notes
	Data as at 30 September 2001.
	Sources
	Department of Health general and personal medical services statistics.
	Department of Health medical workforce census.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK is implementing its responsibilities under the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention.

John Denham: The Government are fully committed to meeting our obligations under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, which was implemented under the Biological Weapons Act 1974. More recently, we took new powers to deal with noxious substances. Sections 54 and 55 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (as amended in Section 120 of the Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001) make it an offence to provide, receive or invite another to receive instruction or training in the making or use of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. In addition, section 113 of the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 makes it an offence to use any noxious substance or thing with the intention of causing serious harm to public or property, and section 114 creates an offence of hoaxing using alleged noxious substances. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has taken forward initiatives—including the Green Paper laid before the House in April 2002—intended to strengthen international efforts, and mechanisms, to counter proliferation.

Crown Prosecution Service

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place the technical note underlying the Crown Prosecution Service Public Service Agreement in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: I have been asked to reply.
	The Crown Prosecution Service's Public Service Agreement targets are cross-cutting criminal justice system targets. The Home Office Public Service Agreement technical note, which covers the Crown Prosecution Service's Public Service Agreement targets, will be published shortly, and a copy will be placed in the Library,

Accommodation Centres

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight will receive a reply to his question of 22 January about searches for accommodation centres and induction centres.

Beverley Hughes: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 30 January 2003.

Algerian Asylum Seekers

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Algerian nationals have sought asylum in each of the last four years; and how many cases are awaiting determination from each year.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 30 January 2003
	The table shows the number of Algerian nationals applying for asylum in each of the last four years for which figures are available, and the number of initial decisions made in these periods. The number of Algerian asylum applicants awaiting an initial decision for each of these years are not available, and could be obtained at disproportionate cost only by examination of individual case records.
	
		Asylum applications received in the United Kingdom, and initial decisions, excluding dependants, nationals of Algeria(19)
		
			 Year Applications(20) Initial decisions(21),(22) 
		
		
			 1998 1,260 500 
			 1999 1,385 905 
			 2000 1,635 1,935 
			 2001(23) 1,145 2,665 
		
	
	(19) Figures rounded to nearest five '*' = 1 or 2
	(20) May exclude some cases lodged at Local Enforcement Offices between January 1999 and March 2000
	(21) Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions
	(22) Decision figures do not necessarily relate to applications received in the same period
	(23) Provisional
	Information on the number of asylum applications is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html. The next publication will be available from 28 February and will cover the final quarter of 2002.

Area Cost Adjustment

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with his colleagues in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister about the impact of (a) the changes to the Area Cost Adjustment and (b) the new approach to Resource Equalisation on police funding in Essex; and what estimate he has made of the impact in financial terms.

John Denham: Ministerial discussions during the recent review of funding formulae covered a range of subjects including the Area Cost Adjustment (ACA) and Resource Equalisation.
	Any change to funding formulae will result in winners and losers. We carefully considered the impact that all the options for change would have on all police authorities before any final decisions were taken.
	The way the ACA is calculated has been revised to make it much more sensitive to local circumstances. It now recognises that there can be high cost areas outside the South East and it recognises the evidence that there are variations within London and the South East.
	The previous Resource Equalisation system recognised the different abilities of authorities to raise their own resources, but used an unrealistic assumption of council tax to do it. The new system assumes a national council tax that is close to what authorities actually charged in 2002–03 plus a small extra amount for inflation so that high need, low taxbase authorities are not unfairly penalised.
	All police authorities have been protected from excessive fluctuations in grant by the application of floors and ceilings which ensure that every police authority will benefit from a minimum increase in general grant of 3 per cent.

Assets Recovery Agency

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Assets Recovery Agency.

Bob Ainsworth: The Assets Recovery Agency came formally into being on 13 January, and its Director, Jane Earl, took up post on 3 February, as did her Assistant Director for Northern Ireland, Alan McQuillan. I have signed a commencement order to bring the Agency's powers of civil recovery, taxation, investigations and data sharing into force on 24 February, and the criminal confiscation provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which include powers for the Director, will come into force on 24 March.
	Jane Earl and her staff will have my full support in their efforts to reduce crime. They will do this by making sure that those in our communities who seek to live off of the misery and suffering caused by crime are not allowed to enjoy their ill- gotten gains.

Asylum Accommodation (Scotland)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the sites which are being considered for asylum seeker accommodation centres in Scotland.

Beverley Hughes: The current position on sites under consideration is as we announced in May 2002.
	Site searching has continued since we made our initial announcement as we said it would. We will not be putting into the public domain details of any sites unless and until they are considered to be a serious prospect for the siting of an accommodation centre.

Asylum Seekers

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what (a) private and (b) public consultation took place between the National Asylum Seekers Support Service and constituents of Sittingbourne and Sheppey with respect to the decision to open a refugee and asylum reception centre at the Coniston Hotel in Sittingbourne; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: Prior to the meeting on 24 January there has been no public consultation between the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) and constituents in Sittingbourne and Sheppey. On 12 September 2002 NASS wrote to the Chief Executive of Swale Borough Council to advise that NASS was considering a tender for use of bedspaces at the Coniston Hotel. The letter from NASS made it clear that the information was at that time "Commercial in Confidence" since the tender to which it related was still being evaluated. It was suggested in the letter that Swale Borough Council liaise with other agencies to consider matters which fell outside their responsibility, such as 'Police/Crime and Disorder concerns'. The Chief Executive was asked to provide specific information and also invited to provide any additional information he felt would be appropriate or relevant to local or regional circumstances. Two written replies were received from Swale Borough Council.

Asylum Seekers

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the hotels and guesthouses in the Gatwick area which are providing accommodation to asylum seekers, together with (a) the number of individuals in each case and (b) their country of origin; and what the average cost per week has been to public funds.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 31 January 2003
	The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) does not currently accommodate any asylum seekers in hotels or guesthouses in the Gatwick area. NASS does not have a central record of hotels used by local authorities providing housing for asylum seekers. Some people who were transferred from Sangatte are being temporarily housed in the Gatwick area.

Asylum Seekers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what checks are made on the accuracy of addresses provided by asylum seekers as their place of residence in the UK (a) at the time when they make new application for asylum and (b) at subsequent stages of their application.

Beverley Hughes: Immigration officers at ports of entry would normally seek to verify any address which is provided by an asylum seeker as his or her place of residence in the United Kingdom. If the asylum seeker will be staying with friends or relatives, every effort is made to contact the person concerned. In addition the friend or relative's personal details and address may be checked against Home Office records, including the Warnings Index. Similar checks are run on applicants who claim in-country.
	The National Asylum Support Service (NASS) also requires its accommodation providers to confirm in writing that an asylum seeker has arrived at accommodation which is being provided as part of a support package.
	All claimants' addresses are entered on the Case Information Database (CID) which includes a postcode check mechanism to double-check the address.
	The onus is on all claimants to notify any changes of address which will be entered on CID.
	The ability to maintain contact with all asylum seekers is a primary objective of measures in the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and through the establishment of induction, accommodation and reporting centres. Asylum seekers will be informed of their obligations to provide up-to-date address details, and to report as required, during the induction process. The Immigration Service will actively manage the contact process: through the eight designated reporting centres, by using police stations and by visiting asylum seekers at their accommodation.

Asylum Seekers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were committed by asylum seekers, broken down by type of offence, in the most recent year for which information is available.

John Denham: I regret that the information requested is not available from existing data collection systems.
	Information on the number of asylum applications is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html. The next publication will be available from 28 February and will cover the final quarter of 2002.

Body Armour

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the acceptability of body armour to the police;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of the number of lives saved through the use of protective body armour by the police;
	(3)  what guidance he gives to police forces on the occasions on which body armour is to be worn by the police.

John Denham: All police forces in England and Wales operate within the Health and Safety (Police) Act 1997 and must, therefore, conduct (and maintain) risk assessments into the roles of their officers. Where a risk is identified, body armour is one of the measures that should be considered. There are a variety of levels of protection which can be offered according to the perceived threat and a risk assessment will normally establish the level of protection required. The use of protective equipment is ultimately a matter for chief officers of police.
	All forces in England and Wales have access to dual-purpose body armour (knives and ballistic) either as a general or pool issue. All firearms units in England and Wales have access to overt heavy-duty body armour. In May 2002, the Home Office Police Scientific Development Branch set up a database to record instances when body armour has saved an officer from death or serious injury.

Coniston Hotel

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the consultation on the Coniston Hotel as an asylum centre will be conducted independently of the NASS.

Beverley Hughes: On 20 January I announced that there will be an independent inquiry into the operation of the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) which will include its general procurement processes. However, consultation on individual sites identified as potential accommodation for asylum seekers, whether on a short or longer term basis, will be carried out by NASS.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he has not replied to the letter to him dated 26 November from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Yimika Walker.

Beverley Hughes: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 4 February 2003.

Correspondence

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his officials at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate will answer the letters from the hon. Member for Vauxhall of 18 October 2002 and 13 December 2002, about a constituent, A466054.

Beverley Hughes: An official from the Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to my hon. Friend on 30 January 2003. I am sorry for the delay in replying.

Council Tax

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the use of custodial sentences for (a) non-payment of council tax and (b) pensioners who have failed to meet council tax payments.

Christopher Leslie: I have been asked to reply.
	Before seeking committal warrants, local authorities must have tried other enforcement measures and before sentencing a council tax debtor to a term of imprisonment, the Court must first determine that there has been wilful non-payment. Magistrates also have the power to remit all or part of a debt if they consider this is justified.
	The Government believes that pensioners should be treated in the same way as any other person who has failed to pay their council tax. This includes the need for the Court to determine whether the debtor has the means to pay.
	Committal to prison for the wilful non-payment of council tax provides an incentive to encourage payment. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no plans to abolish it.

Public Transport (Crime)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with Transport for London regarding crimes committed on (a) the London Underground and (b) London buses; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has not held any recent discussions with Transport for London on these matters he has however discussed transport crime with the Commissioner and the Mayor.
	The Government takes tackling transport related crime along with tackling all forms of crime very seriously. Steps that we are taking to help to reduce violent crime, anti-social behaviour, and fear of crime as well as youth crime would all impact on helping to reduce transport related crime.
	The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and the Commissioner for Transport for London have set up a Transport Operational Command Unit. The unit has specific responsibility for policing agreed corridors on the London bus network.
	A partnership has also been formed to fight crime on buses and coaches in England and create a safe environment for crews and passengers. The panel, entitled Safer Travel on Buses and Coaches Panel (STOP) has brought together bus operators, unions, transport and local authorities, the police, passenger groups and officials from Government Departments, including the Home Office. It is charged with considering how to combat assaults, anti-social behaviour and vandalism on vehicles and property.
	The British Transport Police (BTP) work with Transport for London, London Underground, local police forces and other agencies to deliver a safe railway environment free from disruption and the fear of crime. The BTP also play a key role in the Secure Stations Scheme which encourages train operators, including London Underground, to improve security and gain national accreditation. London Underground has a number of its stations accredited under the scheme. Central funds amounting to £1.36 million have also been provided to the BTP to support their participation in the Street Crime initiative. This will help BTP step up operations on and around transport, targeting stations and their car parks, station approaches and concourses as well as on tubes and trains.

Domestic Violence

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reported cases of domestic violence there have been in (a) the west midlands and (b) England and Wales in the last four years; and how many of those cases resulted in a conviction.

John Denham: holding answer 2 December 2002
	Domestic violence is not separately identified in recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office.
	The British Crime Survey (BCS) provides national trend information on the number of incidents of domestic violence. The BCS figures are derived from a sample and so are subject to sampling error. Moreover, the BCS is carried out by face-to-face interviews and some respondents may be unwilling to reveal experience of domestic violence to interviewers.
	The 1996 BCS included a self-completion component on domestic violence to encourage disclosure. Results were published in Home Office Research Study No. 191; copies are available in the Library.
	The BCS defines domestic violence as all violent incidents, excluding mugging, in which the offender is a current or former partner, household member or other relative. For the 1996 self-completion module the coverage was limited to violence involving current or former partners.
	The national BCS figures are as follows:
	
		Number of BCS incidents of domestic violence, 1997 to 2001–02 BCS interviews England and Wales -- Thousand
		
			 1997 1999 2000 2001–02 
		
		
			 826 787 514 635 
		
	
	BCS figures for west midlands are available only for 2001–02 BCS interviews as the sample size in previous BCS reports was too small to provide reliable regional results. The 2001–02 west midlands figure is available only as a rate: 96 incidents per 10,000 adults.

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug treatment and testing orders have been issued since the scheme was introduced; what the cost of each drug treatment and testing order is per person; what percentage of those issued with drug treatment and testing orders complete the course; and what percentage of those issued with drug treatment and testing orders have re-offended.

Bob Ainsworth: Between 1 October 2000, when the order was first rolled out to all courts in England and Wales, and 31 December 2002, 10,525 drug treatment and testing orders (DTTOs) were made. 46 per cent. of orders that commenced during this time were revoked for failing to comply, for a further conviction or for other reasons. 12 per cent. of orders have been completed, and 42 per cent. of orders are still continuing.
	The assessed national average unit cost of a DTTO is £6,000, of which, in England, £3,600 per order is transferred to the Department of Health pooled treatment budget to cover treatment and related costs.
	Information as to re-sentencing in respect of revoked orders is not available.

GBH Drug

Julia Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will make the drug GBH illegal.

Bob Ainsworth: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has recommended that 4-Hydroxy-n-butyric acid, otherwise known as gammahydroxy-butrate or GHB, should be controlled as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Following a public consultation, I have accepted the Advisory Council's recommendation.
	It is expected the matter will come before Parliament in a few weeks' time and that the drug will become controlled by early summer.

Kent Policing Model

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make an assessment of the importance of patrolling within the Kent Policing Model.

John Denham: Kent Police use a model of intelligence led policing to drive operational performance. Uniformed police patrol focused by intelligence is a fundamental constituent of this model. Kent Police has been subject to regular inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary at force and Basic Command Unit (BCU) level and has met its efficiency target for the last three years.

Lincolnshire Police Force

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) police civilian staff the Lincolnshire police force had in each year since 1997.

John Denham: The table gives police officer and support staff strength in Lincolnshire police force in each year from 1997 to 2002.
	
		March
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			 Police Officers 1,196 1,191 1,140 1,115 1,202 1,198 
			 Support Staff 521 541 517 516 561 600

Lincolnshire Police Force

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences were recorded by the Lincolnshire police force in each year since 1997, broken down by category.

John Denham: The number of offences recorded by Lincolnshire police force, for the years requested, are given in the tables.
	There was a change in counting rules for recorded crime on 1 April 1998, which would have the tendency to increase the number of offences counted. Numbers of offences before and after this date are therefore not directly comparable.
	Lincolnshire police force adopted the principle of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in March 2002, one month earlier than it was officially introduced across England and Wales. The aim of the Standard is to promote greater consistency between forces in the recording of crime and to take a more victim-orientated approach to crime recording.
	
		Number of recorded offences in Lincolnshire, from 1997 to 2001–02, by offence group
		
			  Total Violence against the person Sexual offences Robbery Total violent crime 
		
		
			 1997(24) 43,381 3,051 329 107 3,487 
			 1997–98(25) 41,792 3,112 331 105 3,548 
			 1998–99(26) 46,670 4,239 393 149 4,781 
			 1999–2000 46,170 3,866 325 178 4,369 
			 2000–01 44,884 3,743 281 191 4,215 
			 2001–02(28) 49,797 4,812 414 251 5,477 
		
	
	
		
			  Burglary Theft and handling stolen goods Fraud and forgery Criminal damage Drug and other offences 
		
		
			 1997(24) 10,551 20,085 1,382 7,145 (27)731 
			 1997–98(25) 9,495 19,875 1,144 7,019 (27)711 
			 1998–99(26) 10,257 19,328 2,723 7,728 1,853 
			 1999–2000 10,719 19,551 1,641 8,391 1,499 
			 2000–01 9,583 18,938 1,662 9,078 1,408 
			 2001–02(28) 9,592 19,728 1,968 11,282 1,750 
		
	
	(24) Recorded on a calendar year basis.
	(25) The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the coverage and rules in use until 31 March 1998.
	(26) The number of crimes recorded in that financial year using the expanded offence coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998.
	(27) Before 1 April 1998 the only drug offence was "trafficking".
	(28) Figures for this year may be slightly higher due to Lincolnshire adopting the principle of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in March 2002.

Motor Vehicle Pursuits

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many documented motor vehicle pursuits the police made in each year since 1997, broken down by police force; how many (a) fatalities, (b) collisions and (c) injuries occurred as a result of these pursuits; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: Information is not held centrally on the total numbers of police vehicle pursuits.
	The tables, by police force area and for the years 1997–98 to 2001–02, the numbers of police vehicle collisions and of police and civilian fatalities and injuries that occurred during the course of a pursuit or an immediate/emergency response have been placed in the Library.
	The Government welcomes the recognition by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) that they must work to reduce the number of collisions involving police vehicles.
	Measures already in place include a new police driver training course, launched in December 2000, which introduced a universal standard for driving in England and Wales. An essential element of the course is that officers should recognise the need to give priority to public safety above all other considerations, such as attending an incident or apprehending a suspect. Where pursuits are concerned, there is a nationally agreed ACPO Pursuit Code of Practice and it is already police policy to consider continuously the consequences of a pursuit and whether to break it off. In addition, all forces have adopted some or most of the recommendations from the 1998 Lind Report on Police Pursuit Driver Training.
	ACPO are working closely with the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) to identify why there appears to be an upward trend in police vehicle collisions and how this might be reversed. Useful information can be expected from the increasing use by forces of Automatic Data Recorders (ADR) and Vehicle Accident Data Recorders (VADR). These operate in a similar way to aircraft black boxes, providing data on such issues as speed, gear changes, braking, and the use of blue lights.

Mr. Mario O'Brien Clarke

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officers are assigned to the investigation of the killing of Mr. Mario O'Brien Clarke in Hackney on 26 December 2002; how many interviews have been conducted in connection with this investigation; how many statements have been taken; how many persons interviewed have previous convictions for drug-related offences; and how many serving soldiers have been interviewed.

John Denham: I am informed by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that officers undertaking this investigation have so far taken 77 statements and that, as this investigation is still on-going, disclosure of precise details of the progress of the investigation may prove prejudicial to the outcome of current inquiries.

Mr. Nick Woodward

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the result was of the police investigation into the circumstances of the death of Mr. Nick Woodward of the Royal Military Police outside Aldershot Barracks in November 2002; how many military personnel have given statements; how many persons were travelling in the car alleged to have been involved in the fatal accident; what criminal charges have been brought; and on how many occasions investigators have travelled to Deepcut Barracks.

John Denham: I am informed by Hampshire Constabulary that the police investigation into the circumstances of the death of Mr. Nick Woodward is incomplete at present. An inquest review is due to be held on 18 March 2003. I understand that three military personnel have given statements in connection with the investigation and that one person was travelling in the car alleged to have been involved in the accident.
	Hampshire Constabulary have advised that the driver of the car is currently on bail for the offence of "Causing Death by Dangerous Driving". He is due to return to Aldershot Police Station on 10 March 2003. There is no connection between this investigation and Deepcut Barracks and therefore no investigators have travelled to Deepcut Barracks.

National Intelligence Model

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the principal objectives are of the National Intelligence Model; and if he will make a statement on progress on implementation of the model.

John Denham: The National Intelligence Model (NIM) is designed to ensure that operational policing is focused on policing priorities. It is informed by an evidence-based assessment of the crime or disorder occurring and the options for dealing with it. In this way policing effort can have a disproportionate impact on crime and disorder. It is an entire process for policing, developed by the service itself and is fully supported by the Home Office, which has to date invested £11.1 million.
	NIM is a key part of the Police Reform programme, and implementation is being strongly led by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), to ensure NIM is fully implemented across all 43 forces by April 2004. The ACPO-led implementation team is on track to achieve this milestone.

National Intelligence Model

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will define (a) Level 1, (b) Level 2 and (c) Level 3 crimes under the National Intelligence Model; and what purpose this framework serves.

John Denham: In order to ensure consistency and a common standard, within National Intelligence Model (NIM) level 1 is defined as usually crime, criminals and other problems affecting a basic command unit or small force area. Level 2 is defined as usually the actions of a criminal or other specific problems affecting more than one basic command unit, a group of basic command units, neighbouring forces or a group of forces. Level 3 is defined as serious and organised crime, usually operating on a national and international scale.

Official Engagements

Douglas Hogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the official engagements in (a) his and (b) Ministers in his Department's diaries for the weeks beginning (i) 27 January, (ii) 3 February and (iii) 10 February.

David Blunkett: Ministers in my Department have numerous official engagements with a wide range of organisations and individuals as part of the process of policy development, analysis and implementation. Details of these engagements are covered by Exemptions 1, 2 and 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information and are thus confidential. The diary is planned weeks and in some cases months in advance.

Operation Antler

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of Operation Antler, led by Wiltshire constabulary has been; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: The Chief Constable informs me that Wiltshire Police Authority costs for Operation Antler, since it commenced in August 1999, have been as follows:
	
		
			 Year £ 
		
		
			 1999–2000 223,457 
			 2000–01 715,823 
			 2001–02(29) 718,188 
			 2002–03(30) 366,739 
			 Total 2,024,207 
		
	
	(29) Adjusted figure (previously reported as £742,002)
	(30) To 31 December 2002
	The current police staffing level is seven police officers and four support staff.
	In addition, Ministry of Defence (MOD) costs for staff seconded to Operation Antler since 1999 have been as follows:
	
		
			 Year £ 
		
		
			 1999–2000 76,097 
			 2000–01 193,311 
			 2001–02 187,251 
			 2002–03(31) 47,226 
			 Total 503,885 
		
	
	(31) To 31 December 2002
	These figures do not include costs of MOD civilian staff working to support the police.
	The Ministry has funded two MOD police officers and five military investigators who were attached to the inquiry at the request of the previous Senior Investigating Officer. At present, only one MOD police officer is working on the inquiry.

(Cleveland) Police Force

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers serve in the Cleveland police force; what percentage of these officers are from ethnic minorities; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: On 31 March 2002 Cleveland police force had 1,461 police officers, of which 1.3 per cent. were minority ethnic. In England and Wales on 31 March there were 129,603 police officers, of which 2.6 per cent. were minority ethnic.

Police Numbers

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) full time police officers and (b) Special Constables have been on duty in (i) Cheshire Constabulary and (ii) Macclesfield police division in each of the last 10 years.

John Denham: Information on the number of officers on duty in forces and divisions is not collected centrally. The number of officers on duty is an operational matter for the Chief Constable and will vary from day to day.
	The table sets out the number of officers in the Cheshire Constabulary and Special Constabulary for the last 10 years.
	For the latest centrally collected information on the number of officers in Macclesfield, I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 2 December 2002 to the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes), Official Report, column 589W, setting out police strength for each Basic Command Unit for each force in England and Wales as at 31 March 2002.
	
		Cheshire Constabulary and Special Constabulary
		
			 Year(as at 31 March) Police officer (number) Special Constabulary (number) Civilian support staff 
		
		
			 1993 1,908 (32)274 554 
			 1994 1,902 (32)387 581 
			 1995 1,932 (32)321 615 
			 1996 1,998 274 689 
			 1997 2,045 475 735 
			 1998 2,042 459 781 
			 1999 2,071 407 785 
			 2000 2,011 350 823 
			 2001 2,002 290 833 
			 2002 2,059 191 884 
		
	
	(32) Figures for 1993 to 1995 are from the Annual Report of HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary. For 1993 they are those for 31 December 1992 and for 1994 they are those for 31 December 1993 as the Annual Reports before 1994–95 were on a calendar year basis.

Police Numbers

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were serving in the Hertfordshire constabulary on (a) 1 January 2001, (b) 1 January 2002 and (c) at the most recent date for which figures are available.

John Denham: The information requested is set out in the table.
	
		Hertfordshire constabulary
		
			 Year Police strength Civilian support staff 
		
		
			 31 January 2001 1,954 952 
			 31 January 2002 1,851 n/a 
			 31 March 2002 1,825 1,121 
		
	
	Following the change to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) boundaries, which took effect on 1 April 2000, a total of 184 MPS officers were seconded to Hertfordshire. The majority had returned to the MPS by 31 March 2002.

Police Officers (University Fees)

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the conditions under which police officers may obtain (a) payment of (i) university fees and (ii) other expenses and (b) the repayment of university-related debts incurred before joining the police service; how many (A) men and (B) women obtained such payments in the last academic year; and what the total cost of such payments was.

John Denham: Police authorities may nominate police officers for a full-time course of university study. It is for the police authorities to decide whether to reimburse fees and expenses for nominated officers. It would be for police authorities to decide whether to repay any university-related debts incurred by a police officer before joining the force.
	The Police Regulations 1995 make provision for the pay and conditions under which "university scholars" serve. These are in most cases the same as those enjoyed by officers on normal duties.
	Figures for the number of police officers undertaking such courses of university study and the payments of fees and expenses to them are not maintained centrally.
	The Home Office is currently funding the student fees for 144 police officers who enrolled in October 2002 for the first intake of a pilot Foundation Degree in Police Studies provided by the University of Portsmouth. It will also fund the fees of about 100 who will enrol for the second intake in February 2003 and up to 250 who will enrol for further intakes in 2003–04. There is no commitment to provide funding beyond the pilot project.

Police Precept

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the policy of his Department is on the maximum permitted increase in the police precept for each English local authority in 2003–04; what the policy of the Government is on the use of capping powers in respect of the police precept; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: holding answer 22 January 2003
	The levels at which police precepts are set in 2003–04 are local decisions for individual police authorities to determine.
	Since we introduced the reserve capping powers in the Local Government Act 1999, we have been clear that they should only be used in exceptional circumstances. In making decisions about the use of reserve powers, a major consideration has been evidence of how local taxpayers have been engaged in decisions about council tax increases. Over the next few years we will consider the impact of this policy on those who use and those who pay for local services.

Police Recruitment

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to encourage the recruitment of police officers from all sectors of society.

John Denham: holding answer 30 January 2003
	We have this month published progress on the recruitment of minority ethnic officers in "Race Equality—The Home Secretary's Employment Targets". Progress is measured against the 10-year employment targets published in the Dismantling Barriers document, which sets out the overall increase in representation for each force to be representative of the community it serves. Forces have until 2009 to reach these targets. There is annual monitoring of performance; jointHome Office and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabularyreviews of those forces facing the biggest challenge to meet their targets are underway with the objective of agreeing action plans with Chief Constables by 1 April.
	The recruitment, retention and progression sub-group of the Lawrence Steering Group, is reviewing performance, identifying and addressing barriers to success with a view to the identification and dissemination of good practice employment policies.
	We support the aims of the Gender Agenda, one of which is "to achieve a gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation balance across the rank structure and specialisms consistent with the proportion of women in the economically active population". The National Policing Plan provides that Police Authorities should take account of these aims in their force Human Resource plans.
	We are developing national procedures for recruitment which ensure that objective, role related criteria are used at all stages of the process. Information for applicants makes it clear that the police service welcomes applications from all sections of society and offers case studies of minority ethnic, mother returner and part time officers.
	The recruitment, retention and progression sub-group of the Lawrence Steering Group, is reviewing performance, identifying and addressing barriers to success with a view to the identification and dissemination of good practice employment policies.
	We support the aims of the Gender Agenda, one of which is "to achieve a gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation balance across the rank structure and specialisms consistent with the proportion of women in the economically activepopulation". The National Policing Plan provides that Police Authorities should take account of these aims in their forceHuman Resource plans.
	We are developing national procedures for recruitment which ensure that objective, role related criteria are used at all stages of the process. Information for applicants makes it clear that the police service welcomes applications from all sections of society and offers case studies of minority ethnic, mother returner and part time officers.

Police Service (Equal Opportunities)

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he has taken to encourage more members of the ethnic minorities to join the police service; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: We have this month published progress on the recruitment of minority ethnic officers in "Race Equality-The Home Secretary's Employment Targets". Progress is measured against the 10-year employment targets published in the Dismantling Barriers document, which are intended to ensure that forces are representative of the communities which they serve by 2009. There is annual monitoring of performance. Joint Home Office and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) reviews of those forces facing the biggest challenge to meet their targets are under way with the objective of agreeing action plans with the Chief Constable by 1 April.
	Further impetus is provided by the work of one of the sub-groups of the Lawrence Steering Group, looking at the recruitment, retention and progression of minority ethnic staff. The group is looking at current force performance, identifying and addressing any barriers to success and the identification and dissemination of good practice employment policies.
	We are developing national procedures for recruitment which ensure that objective, role related criteria are used at all stages of the process. The associated information makes it clear that the police service welcomes applications from all sections of society and offers case studies of minority ethnic, mother returner and part time officers.

Police Service (Local Accountability)

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what definition he uses of (a) operational and (b) policy issues in relation to the police service and its accountability to local communities.

John Denham: Under the Police Act 1996, a police authority is responsible for ensuring an effective and efficient police force for an area. It sets an annual policing plan and a three-year strategy setting out the priorities and targets for the policing of the local area. In doing so, it must consult local people and have regard to the National Policing Plan issued by the Secretary of State. The Chief officer of police is responsible for the direction and control of the force to enforce the law and to deliver the objectives of the local policing and three-year strategy plans. Local policing policy is a matter for both the police authority and the chief officer. Operational direction and control resides with the chief officer of police. The Secretary of State, consulting where appropriate, sets strategic priorities for policing in England and Wales in the National Policing Plan. He may issue regulations, codes of practice and non-statutory guidance where he believes this to be in the interests of the efficiency and effectiveness of the police.
	The Secretary of State, consulting where appropriate, sets strategic priorities for policing in England and Wales in the National Policing Plan. He may issue regulations, codes of practice and non-statutory guidance where he believes this to be in the interests of the efficiency and effectiveness of the police.

Police Stations (Lincolnshire)

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police stations in Lincolnshire in each year from 1997 to 2002.

John Denham: The Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police has provided a list of the 43 police stations in Lincolnshire in March 1997. There are now 41. Long Sutton was closed during 1997–98 and North Somercotes in 2001–02. Lincolnshire Police Stations at March 1997 and March 2002
	Alford
	Bourne
	Bracebridge Heath
	Boston
	Caythorpe
	Caistor
	Coningsby
	Colsterworth
	Gainsborough
	Holton Le Clay
	Crowland
	Lincoln
	Horncastle
	Donington
	Market Rasen
	Ingoldmells
	Grantham
	Nettleham
	Kirton
	Heckington
	North Box
	Louth
	Holbeach
	North Hykeham
	Mablethorpe
	Long Bennington
	Saxilby
	Skegness
	Market Deeping
	South Box
	Spilsby
	Ruskington
	Welton
	Wainfleet
	Sleaford
	Long Sutton
	Woodhall Spa
	Spalding
	North Somercotes
	Wragby
	Stamford
	Billingborough
	Birchwood
	The decision to open or close a police station or restrict opening hours is an operational matter for the Chief Constable in the light of local circumstances and not one in which it would be appropriate for the Home Office or Ministers to become involved.

Prisoner Incidents (Inquiries)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to give the Chief Inspector of Prisons responsibility for conducting inquiries into deaths and serious injuries in prisons.

Hilary Benn: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary launched a three-year safer custody programme in April 2001 aimed at reducing deaths, self-harm and violence in prisons. The programme targets the highest risk prisoners in the highest risk locations, concentrating on six pilot sites. As part of this programme the Prison Service is considering how it can improve and strengthen investigation procedures into deaths in custody to determine not only what happened in an individual case but also how practice might be improved in future to try to prevent further deaths.
	The Prison Service has conducted a wide-scale consultation exercise, considering a number of options (including asking Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons to conduct such inquiries) to make investigations into deaths in custody more independent. Ministers are also considering whether to give responsibility for investigating deaths in prison custody to the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. In the interim, the Prison Service is working to strengthen and improve the current system of investigating deaths.
	Section 5A(4) of the Prison Act 1952 permits the Home Secretary to refer specific matters connected with prisons and prisoners to Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons and direct her to report on them. Similarly, the Home Secretary can ask the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman to investigate and report on any prison matter.

Prisons (Mother and Baby Units)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking to increase the number of mother and baby unit places for prisoners; and what estimate he has made of the number of mother and baby unit places in 2003.

Hilary Benn: Two new mother and baby units (MBU) are under construction. One is at Eastwood Park in Gloucestershite and the other at Askham Grange in York. These units will provide an extra 22 places and are due to be completed in September 2003. This will bring the total number of places to 90 by the end of 2003.
	Two new prisons at Ashford and Peterborough will also have accommodation for mothers and babies and they are scheduled to be completed by October 2004. Between them they will provide 24 additional places.

Probation Service

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many probation officers were in post, excluding probation service officers, in each year since 1997; and how many (a) offences and (b) offenders the probation service dealt with in each year since 1997.

Hilary Benn: The information requested is as follows:
	
		Numbers of Probation Officers(33),(34)
		
			 England and Wales 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Probation Officers 7,149 7,193 7,519 7,571 7,506 
			 Probation Service Officers 1,919 2,027 2,502 2,869 3,566 
			 Total 9,068 9,220 10,021 10,440 11,072 
		
	
	(33) Numbers shown as whole time equivalents
	(34) Information shown taken at 31 December
	(b)
	
		Persons starting supervision by the Probation Service
		
			 England and Wales 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 
		
		
			 Number of offenders 165,222 174,046 175,879 168,529 165,491 
		
	
	Notes:
	All figures have previously been published
	Source:
	Figures obtained from RDS Probation Statistics 2001

Probation Service

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases in Avon and Somerset magistrates courts in the last year have been postponed because of late probation reports.

Hilary Benn: Information is not collected centrally on the number of court cases postponed due to late probation reports. However, I am aware that in the last eight months the Avon and Somerset probation area has had difficulty in meeting the demand of the magistrates courts for court reports
	The National Director of the National Probation Service has recently issued revised guidance on the prioritisation of work and the Chief Officer and the Probation Board of the Avon and Somerset probation area are carefully monitoring the position. Action has been taken by the Chief Officer to manage and improve the situation, including prioritising certain categories of case, redeploying some staff from other service delivery areas and recruiting and training new staff subject to budget limitations. The Probation Board reviews the probation area's performance at regular intervals and received a report on the provision of reports to court at it's meeting in January and will receive a further report on progress being made in April.

Probation Service

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what was the average time taken for probation officers to submit reports to courts in 2002; and in what time probation officers are required to deliver such reports to courts;
	(2)  what over the last three years has been the average time for probation reports to be made, broken down by police force area in the UK.

Hilary Benn: Information is not available centrally on average times for probation officers to submit reports to courts, but is collected to record performance against the National Standards target which requires that pre-sentence reports are to be prepared within 15 working days of the request by the court (National Standards for the Supervision of Offenders in the Community 2000 (revised 2002)). The National Probation Service currently has a target to produce 90 per cent. of Pre-Sentence Reports within 15 days. The latest figures, which relate to magistrates courts, show that for all probation areas in 2001–02 79 per cent. of reports were provided within the 15 day target.

Stray Dogs

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what allocation he has made for 2003–04 to fund the management of stray dogs, broken down by police authority.

John Denham: Police grant is allocated according to a formula largely based on an assessment of needs for broad categories of police service. It is for the Police Authority and Chief Constable to determine detailed application of funds for particular purposes.

Recorded Crime

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) robberies and (b) snatch thefts were recorded each month by the police in each police force area in England and Wales between April 2001 and September 2002.

John Denham: The Home Office does not routinely publish national statistics on recorded crime on a monthly basis. Annual national statistics on recorded crime, including robbery, will be published in July 2003 for the period April 2002 to March 2003. This will provide a direct comparison with the previous year (April 2001 to March 2002), of the level of robbery offences for each police force area in England and Wales.
	A quarterly update on recorded crime was published early in January and covered the 12 month period to September 2002. This showed that recorded robbery in England and Wales fell by an estimated 10 per cent. in July to September 2002, compared with the same period the previous year. However the quarterly update does not provide a force by force breakdown.
	Snatch theft is not a standard Home Office offence category, although information on snatch thefts has been collected from April 2002 for the 10 forces currently taking part in the Government's Street Crime Initiative. The results of the initiative were published in October 2002, and include figures on snatch theft. A copy is available in the Library.

Travellers

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will reform the law in relation to travellers.

John Denham: holding answer 3 February 2003
	In July 2002 we announced proposals for new eviction powers for the police so that they can deal with unauthorised encampments. These new powers will allow the police to take firm action against unauthorised encampments without the pre-conditions found in the current legislation, where local authorities have made adequate site provision. We will bring forward amendments to the legislation when parliamentary time allows.

Violence against Animals

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has evaluated on the extent to which people convicted of crimes of violence have previously been involved in violence against animals.

John Denham: holding answer 3 February 2003
	There has been no research undertaken on this by the Home Office. However from a sample of 11,049 offenders sentenced in 2000 and convicted of violent offences, only six offenders appeared to have a previous criminal conviction for the summary offence of 'cruelty to animals'.

Young Offenders

Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average time taken to fast-track young offenders through the courts in Shropshire was in each year since 1997.

Hilary Benn: The average time taken to fast track persistent young offenders through the magistrates courts in Shropshire since 1997 is as follows:
	
		
			  Arrest to sentence (days) 
		
		
			 1997 148 
			 1998 111 
			 1999 68 
			 2000 57 
			 2001 62

LORD CHANCELLOR

Public Service Agreements

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will place the technical note underlying the Lord Chancellor's Department's Public Service Agreement in the Library; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The technical note will be published shortly, and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Service Delivery Agreement

Tony Wright: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the Lord Chancellor's Department's service delivery agreement for 2003 to 2006 will be published.

Rosie Winterton: My Department's service delivery agreement for 2003 to 2006 will be published shortly

Sickness Absence

David Laws: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what the rate of staff (a) absenteeism and (b) sickness was in the Department and each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each year from 1990–91 to 2002–03; what the target set is for the Department; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: This information is as follows:
	(a) Details on absenteeism other than sick absence, are not available, and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	(b) Departmental sickness absence figures (excluding non-departmental public bodies) are published in the annual report "Analysis of Sickness Absence in the Civil Service" published by the Cabinet Office. The most recent of which (for calendar year 2001) was announced by Ministerial Statement on 19 December 2002 and copies placed in the Libraries of the House. The figures for 2002 will be announced in due course. The 1999, 2000 and 2001 reports are available on the Cabinet Office website at: www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/civilservice/publications/sickness/index.htm.
	Rates of sick absence (in working days per staff year) for my Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies, are as follows:
	
		Days
		
			 Year LCD Headquarters Court Service Public Trust Office/Public Guardianship Office 
		
		
			 1993(35) 11.8(36) — — 
			 1994 10.7(36) — — 
			 1995 8.7 11.6 14.7 
			 1996 8.1 11.0 9.7 
			 1997 7.8 10.9 12.4 
			 1998 7.7 10.3 11.8 
			 1999 8.0 10.2 11.9 
			 2000 6.2 10.2 12.0 
			 2001 5.3 9.4 9.6 
		
	
	(35) Sick absence data is not available before 1993
	(36) Whole of LCD
	
		Non-departmental public bodies
		
			 Year Days 
		
		
			 Office of the Information Commissioner  
			 The only available figures are:  
			 1996–97 7.4 
			 1997–98 7.06 
			 1998–99 8.98 
			  The Legal Services Commission(formerly the Legal aid Board) 
			 The only available figures are:  
			 October 2000 to September 2001 7.66 
			 October 2001 to September 2002 8.64 
			   
			  The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS)(37) 
			 July to December 2001 7.86 
			 January to December 2002 10.26 
		
	
	(37) CAFCASS was established in April 2001
	My Department is committed to managing sick absence effectively and in meeting the 2003 target for reducing sickness absence in our Service Delivery Agreement. The 2003 target of 6.5 days is a corporate target that includes the Northern Ireland Court Service, the Public Record Office and HM Land Registry.

CHURCH COMMISSIONERS

Licensing Provisions

Robert Key: To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what assessment the Commissioners have made of the provisions of the Licensing Bill.

Stuart Bell: The hon. Gentleman will have been pleased to learn that the Government tabled an amendment to the Bill ensuring that Church buildings will be exempt from the requirement for public entertainment licensing.
	I am making available to the hon. Gentleman the Church of England's press release on the issue, which demonstrates how welcome the Government's proposed exemption is to the Church.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Horticultural Polytunnels

David Lidington: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the Government's policy is on the application of planning rules to horticultural polytunnels.

Tony McNulty: The application of statutory planning regulations is a matter for local planning authorities in the first instance. In the case of polytunnels, where they are placed temporarily, without any permanent fixings, on agricultural land and used for horticulture, they may be deemed to be a use of land for agriculture and therefore exempt from planning controls under the provisions of section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
	Where the erection of polytunnels is deemed to constitute 'development' under the provisions of the 1990 Act, 'permitted development rights' under part 6 of the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) 1995 may be available. In certain cases, these permitted development rights cannot be exercised unless an application has been made to the local planning authority for a determination as to whether their prior approval will be required for certain details relating to the siting, design and appearance of the development.
	In other cases where the erection of polytunnels is deemed to be 'development' and permitted development rights cannot be exercised, an application for planning permission must be made to the local planning authority. The authority will determine the application in accordance with policies in the development plan, taking account of national planning policies.
	The Government's national planning policies on development related to agriculture, including horticulture, are set out in Planning Policy Guidance note 7 (PPG 7), "The Countryside".
	Whether the erection of any particular polytunnel is deemed to constitute development will depend on the facts of each case. Ultimately, this is a matter for the courts who are likely to place weight on several factors that may indicate the degree of 'permanence' of the structure. These factors are reflected in the advice given in paragraph C11 of Annex C to PPG7.

Affordable Homes

Matthew Green: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many affordable homes for (a) rent and (b) low cost home ownership were completed in 2001–02; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: In England, during 2001–02, completions of dwellings to rent by Registered Social Landlords and local authorities totalled 14,470. A further 7,400 dwellings were provided in through Registered Social Landlords shared ownership and other low cost schemes.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council

David Davis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will issue a top-up grant of £464,058 to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council for the provision of nursery school places to 381 applicants for this academic year following the migration of these children into the county subsequent to the allocation of the 2002–03 nursery education grant.

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	On 11 December 2002, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills announced that all three-year-olds will be entitled to receive a free part-time early education place from April 2004. This is six months earlier than originally planned. Currently around 70 per cent. of three-year-olds are able to access a free place.
	Funding for the provision of free early education places is made available to local education authorities on the basis of financial, rather than academic, years. During the 2002–03 financial year, we have made £275 million of Nursery Education Grant funding available for the provision of free places for three-year-olds. Funding has been allocated to local education authorities primarily according to their position on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Index of Multiple Deprivation. East Riding of Yorkshire Council has been allocated £1,353,198 to fund 1,111 places. Local education authorities are responsible for devising eligibility criteria for the distribution of free places in their area according to social need and without exceeding their allocation.
	At the end of the autumn term, the Department for Education and Skills reallocated Nursery Education Grant funding from authorities who were unable to use their full allocation to authorities who were able to use additional funding. East Riding of Yorkshire received anadditional £283,794 as a result of this exercise.
	Also, the audit of Nursery Education Grant in the East Riding of Yorkshire for 2001–02 showed that there was an underspend of £198,670 which ought to be returned to Department for Education and Skills. In light of the circumstances currently faced by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the Department for Education and Skills has exceptionally allowed them to carry over this amount to 2002–03. Therefore, East Riding of Yorkshire Council has received a total of £482,464 additional funding for the spring term 2003.
	From the 2003–04 financial year, funding for the provision of free places is being transferred into Education Formula Spending as part of an overall £500 million transfer of DfES grant funding into general funding. A total of £319 million Nursery Education Grant funding is being transferred into the under fives sub-block. The funding for authorities such as East Riding of Yorkshire who have not yet achieved universal provision is being calculated to ensure that they have sufficient funding to provide a free place for 85 per cent. of their three year old population. 85 per cent. is the DfES planning assumption for universal provision for three-year-olds.

Housing (Rural Areas)

Andrew George: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many affordable housing units were (a) in use and (b) unused in (i) England and (ii) local authorities defined as rural, by region, in each year since 1978.

Tony McNulty: Numbers of residential dwellings and vacancy levels in stock owned by local authorities and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) are reported by local authorities annually on Housing Investment Programme returns, and since 1993 by RSLs on Housing Corporation RSR returns. Data for RSL vacant stock at LA level between 1979 (the earliest available data) and 1992 are not as complete as in later years, and consequently figures for rural authorities will be slightly underestimated.
	Regional estimates, distinguishing the position in local authorities regarded as rural, as at 1 April for each of the past ten years, and for selected years back to 1979, are in a table that has been placed in the Library of the House.

Housing Benefit

Steve Webb: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to reform the system whereby council tenants contribute to the cost of housing benefit for other tenants.

Tony McNulty: Council tenants' rents are not used at present to meet housing benefit costs. What really happens is that assumed Housing Revenue Account surpluses are captured and put towards Housing Revenue Account subsidy for other authorities who are unable to meet reasonable expenditure on their housing stock from their assumed rental income. This is done by offsetting the assumed Housing Revenue Account surplus against the subsidy for rent rebates due to that authority.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister recognises that this system is not transparent or well understood and is addressing this in the Local Government Bill currently before Parliament, through which the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister proposes to remove rent rebates from the Housing Revenue Account and subsidise them separately in the General Fund.

Local Government Finance

David Kidney: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2002, Official Report, column 958W, whether he intends to continue to update the basis for the formula spending share in line with actual spending by local government.

Christopher Leslie: The Government have already announced the absolute increases in service control totals for 2004–05 and 2005–06 as part of 2002 Spending Review. The next planned re-examination of service control totals will be part of the 2004 Spending Review. Actual spending levels is one of the matters we would expect to take into account in the 2004 Spending Review.

Parish Councils

Nigel Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many parish councillors he has been told have (a) retired and (b) resigned as a result of the Parish Council (Model Code of Conduct) Order 2001.

Christopher Leslie: There is no requirement for local authority members to inform us of retirements or resignations, for whatever reason. However, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Standards Board for England together have been informed of 95 resignations by Parish Councillors who were unwilling to accept the code of conduct, out of an estimated total of some 70,000 parish councillors.

Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill

David Wilshire: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister during the committee stage of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill, how many (a) clauses and (b) schedules were (i) fully, (ii) partly and (iii) not debated.

Tony McNulty: The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill was considered by Standing Committee G over 12 sittings between 9–28 January. Of the 90 clauses in the Bill 22 were fully debated, four were partly debated and 64 were not debated. Of the six schedules, one was fully debated and five not debated.

Rural Housing

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the standard size of settlement is that is used for (a) village shop rate relief, (b) the Right to Buy scheme and (c) the Right to Acquire scheme; if he will list those areas that are designated under the Right to Buy scheme; when they were designated; for each of them, what size of settlement is exempt; how many council houses each involves; and how many qualifying registered social landlord houses each involves.

Tony McNulty: Settlements below a certain size qualify for special treatment under the following schemes:
	(a) village shop rate relief scheme—a rural settlement is one with a population of 3,000 or less.
	(b) Right to Buy—social landlords may impose restrictions on resales of properties originally sold under the Right to Buy scheme where these are located within national parks or areas of outstanding natural beauty, or in areas designated by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister as rural for this purpose. Such designated areas exclude settlements with 2,000 inhabitants or more. 24 areas were designated between 1981 and 1990, and one more was designated in 2002. A table describing these areas, with dates of designation, is as follows. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced on 22 January 2003 that the exclusion limit for new designations would rise to 3,000 inhabitants, with immediate effect.
	Information on how many council or registered social landlord properties are located in the 25 designated areas is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			 District Designated areas Date designated 
		
		
			 Alnwick The parishes of Acklington, Glanton. Hauxley, Hedgeley, Netherton, Rennington and Togston 14 April 1981 
			 Berwick-upon-Tweed The whole borough, with the exception of the area of the former borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed 14 April 1981 
			 Eden The whole district, with the exception of the area of the former urban district of Penrith 14 April 1981 
			 South Lakeland The whole district, with the exception of the towns of Grange-over-Sands, Kendal and Ulverston 14 April 1981 
			 Craven The parishes of Bank Newton, Bentham, Bolton Abbey, Burton in Lonsdale, Clapham cum Newby, Conistion Cold, Embsay with Eastby, Gargrave, Giggleswick Halton East, Hellifield, Ingleton, Langcliffe, Lawkland, Long Preston, Otterburn, Rathmell, Settle, Stirton with Thorlby, Thornton-in-Lonsdale, Wigglesworth 22 December 1988 
			 Scarborough The parishes of Brompton-by-Sawdon, Cloughton, Folkton, Gristhorpe, Lebberston, Muston, Reighton and Snaiton 29 October 1986 
			 North Norfolk The whole district, with the exception of the parishes of Cromer, Fakenham, Holt, North Walsham and Sheringham 15 February 1982 
			 Caradon The whole district, with the exception of the parishes of Callington, Liskeard, Looe, Saltash and Torpoint 14 April 1981 
			 Carrick The whole district, with the exception of the parishes of Falmouth, Feock, Penryn and Truro 14 April 1981 
			 Kerrier The whole district, with the exception of the area of the former urban district of Camborne-Redruth and the town of Helston 14 April 1981 
			 North Cornwall The whole district, with the exception of the parishes of Bodmin, Bude-Stratton, Launceston, Padstow and Wadebridge 14 April 1981 
			 Penwith The whole district, with the exception of the parishes of Hayle, Penzance and St.Ives 14 April 1981 
			 Restormel The parishes of Colan, Grampound, Lanlivery, Luxulyan, Mawgan-in-Pydar, St. Ewe, St. Stephen-in-Brannel and St. Wenn 14 April 1981 
			 East Devon The whole district, with the exception of the area of the former urban district of Exmouth and the parishes of Honiton, Seaton and Sidmouth 14 April 1981 
			 Mid Devon The whole district, with the exception of the Towns of Crediton, Cullompton and Tiverton 31 July 1981 
			 North Devon The whole district, with the exception of the parishes of Barnstaple, Fremington and Ilfracombe 14 April 1981 
			 South Hams The whole district, with the exception of the parishes of Dartmouth, Ivybridge, Kingsbridge and Totnes 14 April 1981 
			 Teignbridge The whole district with the exception of the parishes of Dawlish, Kerswells, Kingsteignton, Newton Abbot and Teignmouth 22 March 1982 
			 Torridge The whole district, with the exception of the parishes of Bideford, Great Torrington and Northam 14 April 1981 
			 West Devon The whole borough with the exception of the parishes of Tavistock and Okehampton 19 July 1990 
			 Purbeck The parishes of Affpuddle, Bere Regis, Bloxworth, Chaldon Herring, East Stoke, Morden, Moreton, Turners Puddle and Winfrith Newburgh 14 April 1981 
			 West Dorset The whole district, with the exception of the parishes of Chickerell, Dorchester and Sherborne 14 April 1981 
			 Ribble Valley The parishes of Balderstone, Bashall Eaves, Chatburn, Clayton le Dale, Dinckley, Dutton, Gisburn, Great Mitton, Horton, Hothersall, Little Mitton, Mearley, Middop, Newsholme, Osbaldeston, Paythorne, Ramsgreave, Read, Ribchester, Rimington, Salesbury, Simonstone, Waddington, West Bradford, Wiswell, Worston 6 August 2002 
			 West Somerset The whole district, with the exception of the area of the former urban district of Minehead and the parishes of Watchet and Williton 14 April 1981 
			 New Forest The perambulation of the New Forest 14 April 1981 
		
	
	(c) Right to Acquire—in areas designated as rural, properties owned by registered social landlord are exempt from the right to acquire scheme. Such areas are generally settlements with a population of 3,000 or less.

Rural Housing

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many houses have been bought in (a) the Right to Buy scheme and (b) the Right to Acquire scheme in the last six years; and what proposals he has to amend the exemptions in rural areas in either scheme.

Tony McNulty: During the six years between April 1996 and September 2002, 241,237 houses and 59,997 flats have been sold under the Right to Buy scheme, a total of 301,234 sales. There are no plans to amend the current exemptions from the Right to Buy.
	Under the Right to Acquire scheme during the last six years, up to December 2002 there have been a total of 115 completed sales. There are no plans to amend the current exemptions from the Right to Acquire.

Seaside and Country Homes Scheme

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many properties used by the Seaside and Country Homes scheme in 1979 were subsequently transferred to (a) the local housing authority and (b) sold on the open market.

Tony McNulty: None.

Seaside and Country Homes Scheme

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many applicants were on the waiting list for a nomination to a property under the Seaside and Country Homes scheme in each year since 1979: and what the average length of time was between an application for rehousing under the Seaside and Country Homes scheme and nomination to a property in each year since 1979.

Tony McNulty: On 31 March 2002 there were 450 people on the waiting list and this had risen to 562 by 31 December 2002. Historical figures have not been kept.
	The average length of time for rehousing under the Seaside and Country Homes scheme was:
	1 July 1999 until 31 March 2000: 322 days
	1 April 2000 until 31 March 2001: 194 days
	1 April 2001 until 31 March 2001: 129 days
	1 April 2002 until date: 98 days
	Management of the Seaside and Country Homes was taken over by HOMES in July 1999 and figures prior to this are not held centrally.

Seaside and Country Homes Scheme

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to promote the Seaside and Country Homes scheme more widely to tenants in the social rented sector.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has no plans to promote the scheme, except as part of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's general promotion of housing mobility related opportunities. However management of the scheme will move from HOMES to the Housing and Employment Mobility Services (HEMS). We are in discussions with bidders for HEMS as to how they might promote Seaside and Country Homes and other mobility initiatives to achieve the maximum number of moves.

Spring Supplementary Estimates

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the uses were of the change in spending in the Spring Supplementary Estimates 2001–02, Cm5354, section 1, subsection xix under sub head A1; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: I have been asked to reply.
	Funding was provided to strengthen the Government's ability to deliver change in the public services and to enhance security arrangements and the resilience of communications systems, following the terrorist attacks of 11 September.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adult Skills (Consultation Process)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects to commence public consultation on the proposals outlined in the Strategy Unit Report In Demand: Adult Skills in the 21st Century-Part 2.

Ivan Lewis: There are no plans to conduct a formal public consultation on the report, which is a statement of cross-Government policy. However, there was widespread involvement of interested parties following the publication in December 2001 of the first report and in preparing the second report. Many of the proposals in the report will be taken forward in the Skills Strategy, to be published in June, on which there has already been consultation through Regional Skills Summits, and through DTI's current review of innovation, which will involve consulting with a wide range of stakeholders.

Modern Apprenticeships (Warrington, North)

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of people in the Warrington, North constituency who are undertaking modern apprenticeship schemes.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 30 January 2003
	On 28 July 2002, there were nearly 550 people living in the Warrington, North constituency on advanced modern apprenticeships or foundation modern apprenticeships in England.

Nursery Schools

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the Government's targets are for nursery school places for each local education authority; and how many local education authorities have met this target.

Maria Eagle: Since 1998 all local education authorities (LEAs) have been under a statutory duty to provide a free part-time nursery education place for all four year olds whose parents want one. Funding for three year olds provision was made available in 1999. A PSA target was set for increasing the number of nursery places for three year olds to 66 per cent. by March 2002, this target was met in advance of the agreed date. Significant progress has been made to achieving universal provision for three year olds, currently around 70 per cent. of three year olds are able to access a free place.
	65 of the most deprived local education authorities already offer a free place to all three year olds whose parents want one, these are listed below. The remaining authorities are responsible for devising eligibility criteria for the distribution of free places in their area according to social need.
	The Secretary of State recently announced that all three year olds will be entitled to receive a free place from April 2004. This is six months earlier than our manifesto commitment of September 2004.
	From 2003–04, Nursery Education Grant funding is being transferred into Education Formula Spending as part of an overall £500 million transfer of DfES grant funding into general funding. A total of £319 million Nursery Education Grant will be added to the Under fives sub-block. We have also updated the baseline we use to calculate the control totals for the schools sub-blocks which has resulted in a further substantial increase to the Under fives sub-block.
	Local authorities at universal provision
	Greenwich
	Hammersmith and Fulham
	Lambeth
	Southwark
	Wandsworth
	Ealing
	Newham
	Waltham Forest
	Coventry
	Walsall
	Knowsley
	St Helens
	Wirral
	Manchester
	Rochdale
	Tameside
	Sheffield
	Calderdale
	Wakefield
	Newcastle upon Tyne
	South Tyneside
	Isles of Scilly
	Middlesbrough
	Stockton on Tees
	NE Lincolnshire
	Derbyshire
	Durham
	Brighton and Hove
	City of Leicester
	Halton
	Plymouth
	Blackpool
	Telford and Wrekin
	Hackney
	Islington
	Lewisham
	Tower Hamlets
	Bexley
	Haringey
	Redbridge
	Birmingham
	Sandwell
	Wolverhampton
	Liverpool
	Sefton
	Bolton
	Oldham
	Salford
	Doncaster
	Bradford
	Leeds
	Gateshead
	North Tyneside
	Sunderland
	Hartlepool
	Redcar and Cleveland
	Kingston upon Hull
	City of York
	City of Derby
	Darlington
	Southampton
	Stoke on Trent
	Warrington
	Blackburn with Darwen
	City of Nottingham

Schools (Chorley)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how much investment has been made in schools in Chorley since 1997;
	(2)  how much is being spent per pupil in Chorley in (a) 2003 and (b) 1997.

David Miliband: The following table shows the education standard spending assessment (ESSA), and total DfES revenue and capital grants allocated to Lancashire local education authority for the financial years 1998–99 and 2002–03. The local government reorganisation means that data for financial year 1997–98 does not conform to current boundaries so comparable figures are not available. 2002–03 figures are to date and provisional. It is not possible to identify separately the amounts for individual constituencies.
	
		Education standard spending assessment, revenue and capital grant -- £
		
			  1998–99 (cash) 2002–03 (cash) Cash change 
		
		
			 Total ESSA 444,776,000 534,997,000 +90,221,000 
			 ESSA per pupil 2,490 2,990 +500 
			 Total revenue grant 18,921,170 85,415,020 +66,493,850 
			 Revenue per pupil 40 360 +320 
			 Total capital grant 14,950,000 51,519,000 +36,569,000 
			 Capital per pupil 107 294 +187 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. ESSA figures exclude funding for 4-year-olds at private, voluntary, and independent institutions.
	2. Revenue grant figures include school standards grant, standards fund, nursery education grant, Teachers Pay Reform grant and Education Action Zone funding.
	3. The pupil numbers used are the maintained pupils underlying the ESSA settlement calculations.
	4. 2002–03 ESSA figures include an element for LSC allocations in respect of sixth forms.

Service Delivery Agreement

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when the (a) Sure Start, (b) Childcare and (c) Early Years service delivery agreements for 2003 to 2006 will be published.

Maria Eagle: A single service delivery agreement will cover the work of the Sure Start Unit, which embraces Sure Start local programmes, early years and childcare issues. It will be published shortly.

Special Advisers

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) special advisers and (b) press officers have been employed by his Department in each year from 1994–95 to 2002–03; and at what cost in each year.

Charles Clarke: For the number of special advisers employed, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Cabinet Office on 31 January 2003, Official Report, column 1056W.
	We are unable to provide information on the number of press officers employed by the Department in 1994–95 without incurring disproportionate costs. Information dating for 1996–97 to 1998–99 is available from appendix 10 of the Sixth Report from the Select Committee on Public Administration, entitled Government Information and Communication Service, published on 29 July 1998 (www.publications.parliament.uk).
	Figures for 1999 to 2002 are set out in the table but the figures for 2002–03 are not yet available.
	
		£
		
			  Number of press officers Actual salaries spend 
		
		
			 1999–2000 28 1,110,589 
			 2000–01 28 1,246,588 
			 2001–02 23(38) 1,266,626 
		
	
	(38) Excludes the transfer of five members of staff to the Department for Work and Pensions as part of the machinery of government changes following the general election.

Specialist Schools

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on his objectives of (a) increasing the number of specialist schools and (b) moves towards a broader curriculum.

David Miliband: Specialist schools are a central part of this Government's overall framework for raising standards in secondary education in England. The Specialist Schools Programme helps schools to establish distinctive identities through their chosen specialisms and achieve their targets to raise standards. Besides their specialist work, specialist schools are working to raise levels of achievement across the curriculum and collaborating with other schools and the wider community for the benefit of all pupils. We are challenging schools to deliver high quality plans and targets that drive improvement, whether they are new entrants to the scheme or seeking to renew their status.
	In relation to the Government's curriculum objectives, the Secretary of State announced the publication of the policy document 14–19: opportunity and excellence, in his statement on 21 January.
	We maintain our commitment to ensuring that during their period of compulsory education, all young people should follow a broad and balanced programme. We intend to introduce greater flexibility and choice in the Key Stage 4 curriculum so that schools can offer programmes that better meet young people's individual needs and strengths, whilst ensuring they acquire the core of general learning and experience essential to later learning and employment.
	We have announced a Working Group, to be chaired by Mr. Mike Tomlinson, to advise us on three key areas of long term work: the need for a much stronger vocational offer; the requirement for more manageable assessment, which recognises all of a young person's achievements; and the aim of broadening choice and stretching students, with a unified framework of qualifications designed to provide opportunities for young people of all abilities.

Union Learning Representatives

Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he expects to activate that part of the Employment Act 2002 giving union learning representatives statutory rights to paid time off to carry out their duties.

Ivan Lewis: We intend to bring Section 43 of the Employment Act into effect in spring this year, following Parliamentary approval of the revised ACAS Code of Practice on Time Off for Trade Union Duties and Activities. This has recently been amended to include guidance on time off and training for Union Learning Representatives.